New Hero of Ideals
by Apprentice Witch
Summary: Chasing Ash, Jessie, James, and Meowth travel to Unova. However, their goals reach higher than just capturing Pikachu. Hearing about the possible return of the region's ancient creator pokemon, the Rockets see an opportunity to finally reach success. AU, anime/game crossover, Jessie/James.
1. Goals

_Author's Notes_  
_This is Jessie/James... Even if it doesn't seem like it right from chapter one, or even chapter two. It takes place in an AU of mine where events are similar but not absolutely identical to earlier anime and characters actually age. This story specifically is a crossover with the BW games, so any gen 5 characters are based on how I interpret them from the games, not the anime. This story focuses more on the anime characters, especially the rockets, while the companion fanfic, "New Hero of Truth" will focus more on the game characters. Readers of either are free to ignore the other, as the two can be read separately with no real confusion._

**1**  
**Goals**

Jessie, James, and Meowth snuck off the ship, stepping onto the dock. They'd been too busy arguing before to figure out where it was going. They just knew that Pikachu and its trainer were on board, and where it went, they went as well. Though Ash didn't notice them, they noticed him in the distance now, and that was enough.

The second thing that they all noticed was that this wasn't some new, unfamiliar area, not at all. It was quite familiar - the dock of Vermilion City. "So, we're back in Kanto," Jessie said, frowning.

"We can't be back here already!" Meowth said.

James nodded. He was feeling the same as the other two. It felt strange to be back in Kanto after all this time - and still, with nothing to show for it. "What are we supposed to do here?" Jessie muttered.

"I guess we should go back to base now," James said, thinking this must be on their minds too.

"No way!" Meowth said. "If we're going to see the boss, we should at least have something to show him. We're returning from being his representatives in Johto. We should be able to bring some kind of returning gift."

Jessie and James nodded. "Right," they said.

"Well, the twerp's right there," Jessie said, motioning toward the city. "We could just pick up one of his pokemon for the boss's present, couldn't we? Just like stealing an apple from a neighbor's tree."

James and Meowth nodded. "Pikachu would be perfect," Meowth said.

"It would! Let's do it. We'll need this, and this, and this," James said, bringing out their pre-prepared restrain Pikachu kit. They had rubber gloves, an extendable arm for grabbing it, and a humane bubble for transporting it.

"Pikachu really will be a prize," Jessie affirmed.

"That little guy's more powerful than ever," Meowth agreed.

"Let's go get it right away," James said.

"Yeah, the twerp might not be expecting us right after he gets off the boat," Jessie said.

"Let's go!" Meowth said, motioning for them to charge forward.

Ash was alone. Both Misty and Brock had left Johto before him, and had since gone home to their families. Ash knew his mom would be waiting for his visit as well, but couldn't go back to Pallet Town just yet. There was someone who would be going with him.

"Hey, Ash!" that person called.

"Pika!" Pikachu called at the one who had finally arrived.

"Gary, hey!" Ash said, waving back at him.

When Gary caught up to them, neither were really sure what to say. Ash had definitely defeated Gary fairly at the Johto league. Even considering how Gary had bragged about being so much better than him from the first time they'd set out, Ash but didn't feel much like bragging about beating him now.

Gary was also silent. He knew he'd been muttering some stuff to Ash before they'd battled which the hothead might have interpreted weirdly. He just put a hand to his head sheepishly. "You and your pokemon look pretty energetic still," Gary eventually said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said pleasantly, but felt his trainer was still tense.

Ash didn't say anything at first, unsure of what to say to his friend. Then he suddenly made a noise of discontent and exploded with his question. "Gary, you aren't really giving up on being a trainer, are you?"

"Well, yeah," Gary said. "Like I said, I'd the either the very best at the Johto League or I'd be done with training. I gave it my best, but it didn't work out. It happens. Believe me, it happens pretty often, actually."

"So you're just giving up?" Ash said.

Gary sighed. There was his rival's, well, now simply friend's, hotheaded interpretation. "I'm not giving up. My pokemon journey's just over. It was fun and I learned a lot. But I'm never going to be elite, so there's no use in spending any more time on it."

"What kind of an attitude is that," Ash said with a pout. "And how is that fair to your pokemon, to just give up on them!"

"I'm not-" Gary stopped himself. He wasn't going to get off track with this argument. "Look Ash, most people who aim to be 'masters', full time professional pokemon trainers, they fail, and go on to pursue other professions. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Just going on the journey isn't a waste even then."

Ash frowned. He couldn't believe Gary was still speaking so casually, like it was alright for him to act this way. "But what about your pokemon?" Ash eventually repeated.

"They have their place, on Gramps's Ranch, throughout Kanto and Johto, and even still hanging out with me."

"I bet they'd prefer to battle," Ash said.

"Uh, some of them," Gary said. "I won't give up battling completely. Just the whole traveling trainer experience, I'm done with it."

Ash was beginning to follow Gary's thought process, but it still didn't sit right with him. "Well, I'm not giving up on battling just because I wasn't number one this time," Ash said.

Gary laughed slightly. "Yeah Ash, don't you do that. You've still got a long way left on your journey, don't you?"

Ash nodded. He'd always thought he and Gary would always be traveling at the same spots, competing in the same leagues. Ash had wanted to surpass Gary, to be the superior pokemon trainer, and knew just beating him once didn't prove that. Gary was always better than him, catching more pokemon, earning more badges more quickly, and more. Ash felt somewhat of a sense of loss knowing that Gary would no longer be around to compete against.

Gary smirked. He was over his jealousy against Ash. He'd lamented before that Ash's decisions as a trainer had seemed so amateurish, yet he still made it far, even Gary's grandfather had praised Ash's efforts. The younger Gary who complained about Ash's decisions to his grandfather professor was met with a lecture on how different trainers can have opposite but both valid approaches to Pokemon training. It had annoyed Gary then, but now, he was more mature, humbled individual. He could see what his grandfather had meant, even if he still had to shake his head at certain things, like how Ash still hadn't evolved his first pokemon. But who was he to argue with success?

"What are you going to do now, huh?" Ash asked. "Just go home and stay home, then?"

"No way," Gary said. "Gramps got started with his research when he was even younger than me. I'm going to get out into the field like he did back then and discover new things myself."

"Pokemon research?" Ash said.

"Yeah, of course," Gary said. "My journey as a pokemon trainer prepared me pretty well for this." It wouldn't be the same for all trainers, but Gary had close contact with various pokemon professors and researchers during his journey, and had been involved with some investigations and experiments even then. He had a good knowledge base for what would be his first job in the field. "I won't be a trainer, but I'll still be traveling, learning about all kinds of pokemon. Just from a different perspective than a trainer."

"That sounds really cool!" Ash exclaimed. "You're going to help Professor Oak, then?"

"Na," Gary said. He wanted to make a name for _himself_, not just leach off the well known name of "Oak" for his success. Sure, his relations had helped him get his first job at his age, but he'd prove that he deserved it soon enough. "I'll be working for someone else, far away from Kanto. Some place my gramps has never even been."

"You'll go where Professor Oak's never even gone?" Ash said. "Where?"

"The Unova region," Gary said. "It's got a lot of unique pokemon species that you'd never see around here."

"Wow, that's awesome, Gary!" Ash exclaimed. "I want to go too! We should go meet all the new kinds of pokemon. Wouldn't it be fun, Pikachu?" Ash said.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Alright! Then it's decided. We're going to the Unova region too!" Ash said.

Gary laughed. Even though they were older now, Ash still seemed very much like the kid who had originally gone off on a pokemon journey. "Well, there is a league and gym leaders there, too," Gary said. This wasn't necessarily a part of every region of the world. "It might be a good experience for you. But don't you think you should talk to your mom, first? It's a lot farther away than Johto."

"Yeah, I know that," Ash said sulkily. "But no matter what she says, I'll still go."

Gary shrugged. "Good luck to you then, Ash," he said.

"Thanks. And you too, Gary. I bet pokemon research will be complicated, but fun!" Ash said.

"Thanks. You ready to go to Pallet, then?" Gary asked.

"Yeah!" Ash said.

"Well, I'm not just yet. Why don't you wait here? I have to go pick up my plane ticket before we go," Gary said.

"Okay," Ash agreed. "We'll be over there on the dock!" he said, running toward it. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and followed. Gary again just smiled. He really couldn't expect his friend to sit still for so long.

Jessie, James, and Meowth saw Ash running toward them. "Bingo," Meowth said. "Go on guys, now!"

Jessie followed Meowth's directions and reached toward the running pikachu with the extendable arm. "Pika?" Pikachu said as it was suddenly picked up. "Pikapi!" Pikachu called for Ash as it flew threw the air, toward the rocket members who hid in the corner.

"Huh? Pikachu?" Ash said, looking around for his friend.

James had the rubber bubble ready, and put it over Pikachu's before it could attack them. "We've got it!" James said happily.

"Now let's jet out of here!" Meowth said.

"Right!" Jessie and James agreed.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said worriedly.

"Pikachu! Where did you go?" Ash called. The captors were already well on their way, running away from them. They didn't bother restraining Ash, hoping that he simply wouldn't have seen where they'd gone. It seemed to be working well so far, so they just kept running through the city. As they turned the corner, James ran into someone and dropped Pikachu, and Jessie in turn ran into him. They all tumbled to the ground.

"Ouch!" James exclaimed.

"Hey, watch it," Jessie said.

"Uh... Sorry about that," Gary said.

Jessie and James looked at Gary, becoming startled upon recognizing him. Jessie picked up the protective bubble containing Pikachu. "Out of our way, rude brat! We're in a hurry," she said.

Gary also recognized them easily. "Hm. I guess you guys ran into Ash?" he said casually. Listening closely, he could actually hear Ash shouting from around the corner.

"It's not like we're friends. Not the twerp and us, and not you and us," Meowth said.

"Right, fine, I get it," Gary said. Truth be told, he had been worried when he'd initially heard that Ash was being followed by some Team Rocket members. But this group, they were clowns. And from talking to Ash, Gary knew that they never called for other backup when they failed. Even his grandfather had said not to worry about it. That these three weren't really affiliated with the real Team Rocket. Even if they didn't seem to know that.

"Good, then step aside!" James said.

"I know, we should take his pokemon too! I bet this brat has some pretty powerful pokemon," Jessie suggested.

"Good idea! Rob him, guys!" Meowth said.

"So, when did you all arrive in town?" Gary asked.

"Meowth's right, you should stop talking to us so casually like we're friends," Jessie said.

"I know. You're not friends, just people who happen to play cat and mouse games with Ash all the time. I hope I can still have that much fun when I'm all grown up," Gary said.

"What did you say?!" Jessie demanded.

"We're not just playing around, you know!" Meowth said.

"That's right! We're always on the job! Always!" James said.

"I can confirm that! We're even working right now!" Meowth said.

"Let's hurry up and go!" James said.

"No," Jessie said, brandishing her own pokeball. "We'll teach this kid a lesson and take his pokemon, too."

"Right, Jessie," James said, grabbing his own pokeball.

"Going to allow me in on your game?" Gary said. He brought out two pokeballs to counter them. This should be easy enough. "That's fine," Gary said. "Now isn't really the time for you to be playing with Ash's pokemon. To be serious, we're on a tight schedule, and have to get going right away."

"I'll show you serious. Go, Arbok!" Jessie said.

"Go for it! Carnivine!" James said.

"Go! Umbreon, Electivire!" Gary said. He smiled as the battle began. After just one attack, both of their pokemon were knocked out.

"Arbok!" Jessie said in dismay as the pokemon was hit with the electric attack.

"Carnivine!" James cried as Gary's Umbreon smacked the pokemon down.

Gary walked over to where Meowth was, now holding the pikachu-bubble that Jessie had dropped. "I win. Fair's fair, hand it over," Gary said.

"Hey, I'm also a pokemon, " Meowth said. With one paw, it protectively held the bubble, and with the other retracted its claws.

Gary shrugged. He'd given it a chance. But if they weren't going to go by the rules, then it wasn't a game. And if it wasn't a game, then he wouldn't play around. "Umbreon, quick attack."

His Umbreon hit Meowth with the attack, and then Gary grabbed the bubble as it was dropped. "Looks like I win this time," he said. Looking at Jessie and James, who seemed frustrated and then looking at their incapacitated pokemon, Gary shrugged, and turned away. He began walking down the street, leaving the group where they were. He knew they'd be gone by the time he got back, but he was more concerned about what might have happened to Ash than reporting them and having them arrested.

"Gary!" Ash exclaimed when he met up with him. "Why's Pikachu like that?" he said, grabbing the bubble and letting Pikachu out right away.

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu informed.

"Yeah, you know, your 'friends'," Gary said.

"I don't believe how those guys are always stealing! What makes Team Rocket think it can just take everyone's pokemon away?" Ash fumed.

"I dunno," Gary said, unsure of how else to respond.

"Where did they go, anyway? I'll show them."

"Just forget about it right now, Ash. They're just losers," Gary said. When it came to these kinds of fights, it was definitely better to avoid them as much as possible, and definitely not incite them.

"But they always do this!" Ash said.

"Calm down, we've got Pikachu back already."

"But they'll just do it again, to me or someone else!" Ash said.

"Yeah, but you can't help what they do. Just don't worry about it so much," Gary said.

Ash frowned. "I guess you're right," he said, though he still felt the urge to fight the rockets. He usually did it to get Pikachu back, but Gary had already done that for him, so he really should just calm down, he told himself.

"When you go to Unova, there's no rocket presence there like in Kanto or Johto, or even any similar group. Those annoying rockets will be a thing of your past while you're there," Gary said.

"I sure hope so," Ash said.

"Come on, then. I've got my plane ticket already, so let's get."

Jessie fumed as she watched Ash and Gary wander off. "Oh," she said in a huff. "We'll show him who's an annoying loser. Right James?"

"Right," James said, reaching for the pokeball that contained his undamaged pokemon.

Meowth picked itself up, then stepped in front of Jessie and James. "You too cut it out," it said.

"If you want to give up, fine. But we still have usable pokemon left," Jessie said.

"You clods are losing track of what's really important here! Our ultimate success in Team Rocket is more important than any one pokemon or getting back at any one annoying twerp."

James now hesitated, and Jessie glared at Meowth. "What do you suggest we do then, Meowth?" she said. "We don't have anything to show the boss! Should we go back empty handed?"

"I'm not saying that at all," Meowth said. "We just need to look at different options. Something that one brat said got me thinking."

"What's that, Meowth?" James asked.

"Well, where's this 'Unova' he's talking about? Either of you know?" Meowth asked.

"Unova's just another region. It's pretty far away," James said.

"And there's really no rockets there, huh," Meowth said.

"Team Rocket will take over the world eventually. But right now we're only in Kanto and Johto," Jessie stated what they all knew.

"Right," Meowth said. "So think about it. We were going to be the top in Johto, but those other jerks came in and stole the spotlight for us even there."

"Ug. Yeah, Cassidy and her stupid partner should have just stayed out of our affairs," Jessie said, then paused. James just looked away.

"Right, so they became the representatives of the Rockets in Johto. But if we travel someplace farther away, no one's gonna come show up and steal our ideas." Meowth smiled as it finished explaining its new idea.

James nodded. "We'd be the top rockets there!"

"Cassidy wouldn't follow us that far!" Jessie said. "I hope."

"I don't think she was following us, Jessie. It was just a coincidence that we ran into each other a few times," James said.

"Yeah, sure," Jessie said.

"But Meowth, why Unova? Why not any other region?" James asked.

"Because it's far away, haven't we talked about that already?" Jessie said.

"Exactly," Meowth said. "Also, you heard the twerp's little friend there. Him and his pikachu are headed there too. So we can still have an opportunity to capture that rare pikachu while getting other powerful pokemon," Meowth concluded.

"Yes! We can get that pikachu at last," Jessie said.

James shrugged. "Makes sense," he muttered. It was a place to be, at least. He didn't want to stick around there as a failure, he wanted to get moving, so he'd just accept anywhere that Meowth said.

They wandered around the city, gathering some brochures on Unova and looking through the library about the region. "These common pokemon will be rare to anyone from around here, won't they?" Jessie said. "I don't think I've ever seen any of them before."

"There are a lot of strong species too! You know the boss will be happy with that," Meowth said.

"Unova has a lot of powerful legendary pokemon, too," James said. "We should capture them all in the name of Team Rocket!"

"Yeah, but it is far away," Jessie said. It was dramatically so, Jessie could see from looking at the map. "So I guess you won't want to go, James."

James blinked in confusion. "Why not, Jessie? We can capture Pikachu and pokemon we'd never see in Kanto and legendaries no rocket's ever touched! We should definitely go!"

"Yeah! What's the problem, Jessie?" Meowth asked.

"It's not _my_ problem," Jessie said.

"So everything's okay... Isn't it?" James asked, honestly concerned about what might be bothering her.

"Whatever, James," Jessie muttered. "Yeah, this is the place to go," she said to Meowth, before the pokemon got the wrong idea about the conversation.

"You bet it is. I say let's get going right away," Meowth said.

"Shouldn't we go get supplies first?" James said.

"You think they're gonna give anything else to us?" Meowth said.

"Oh... Maybe not," James said.

"I'm sure we could get something. But it would be embarrassing to drop by now, wouldn't it?" Jessie said.

"That's true," James said. "We don't even need to stop by the base at all then, do we?"

"Nope," Meowth said.

"But what about for you, James?" Jessie asked.

"What about for me?" James asked.

"Don't you want to see your girlfriend?" Jessie said.

"Ah..." James paused, suddenly feeling awkward. "No... I don't think I should," he said.

"Don't miss out on our account, James," Jessie said.

"Yeah, I don't think it would be that big a deal if you want to," Meowth said. "Maybe we could get some research done in the meantime."

"I don't, and I don't need to," James muttered.

"Don't you realize how far away we'd be, then how long we might be gone for?" Jessie said. Of course he did, she realized once she asked. "Did you two break up or something?"

"Oh... No," James said. "It was just never really like that in the first place, Jessie."

"Please, James," Jessie began. "You have a kid together and it 'wasn't like that'. Sure."

"It wasn't," James muttered.

Jessie shrugged. She guessed it made sense. James had seemed kind of distant with Cassidy any time she'd seen them. Not hostile, just distant and uncomfortable. It was possible he'd just gotten caught up in something in the heat of the moment and then regretted it. Jessie hadn't really believed it before, but now with James's hesitation to even go see Cassidy, she was becoming convinced. It didn't erase all the issues though. "What about the kid?" she asked James.

James fidgeted. This was a awkward subject for him. He hadn't even seen his son in months, becoming years now, even. He wasn't there when the kid was born. The baby James had held later had just cried and cried. Cassidy said he had colic, which from what James understood meant that he just cried constantly with no reason. James hadn't even held him that long before Cassidy had taken him back to try and calm him.

The second and last time James had seen his son, he'd been walking and talking. Still, the kid wanted nothing to do with him, and would scream and cry as James approached. The toddler hid his face from James and latched onto Cassidy as James spoke with her. James could really understand the sentiment. No matter how young the kid was, James would never force any unwanted interaction with him, not the same way his parents had with him.

James supposed that he had been a little young, and there was a chance the kid's feelings would be different now. James could go back and see him, but the guilt just ate away from him, and left him with an awful feeling from just thinking about it. "There's no point," he said aloud, mostly to himself.

Jessie shrugged. It was all none of her business, anyway. "I guess we leave right now, then," she said.

"We've got to plan the way there, first," Meowth said.

"Sure," Jessie said. "And once we get there, we aren't messing around. We'll steal the very best, and capture all of the legendaries, all for the glory of Team Rocket."

"Right!" James agreed, trying to push his various failures out of his mind and center his thoughts around all of their future successes. With his optimistic teammates by his side, he did just that.


	2. Arrival

**2**  
**Arrival**

Jessie, James, and Meowth snuck off of the ship, then ran into the busy city, where they were swallowed up by the crowd. The group momentarily stopped, staring up and around at all the tall buildings, flashy signs, and advertisements. Those dressed for business ran around all around them. Jessie and James felt somewhat out of place in their uniforms.

"It's a little crowded here," Meowth said.

"Castelia City is the most densely populated in this region, I think," James said.

"Then where do we begin? Look for the legendaries? Try and find the twerp?" Jessie said. Either might be difficult in this city, she thought.

"We'll just go to wherever the twerp might be. He's only here for pokemon, so there are only a few places he might be," Meowth said.

"Where's that?" James asked.

"Well, there's the pokemon center, and also some kind of gym," Meowth said.

"Fine, then let's go see the pokemon center," Jessie said.

"It's not too far from here," Meowth said, turning around its map and looking around.

"Right over there!" James pointed ahead of them.

"Right," Meowth said. It shoved the map over at James and then began to walk forward.

The group reached the crowded pokemon center, then began to wander around. "We could just loot this place," Jessie said.

"No need to let them know too soon that the rockets have arrived," Meowth said.

"We could get something to eat first," James said as he pointed to the mess hall.

"Excellent idea," Meowth said.

"It has been a long trip," Jessie said.

The group walked casually into the mess hall. An alarm began to sound. They all put their hands to their ears. "What's that for?!" Jessie shouted irritably.

"I'm afraid it's for you," Nurse Joy said as she walked in. "Please follow me." The group walked out, and the incessant buzzing stopped.

"Much better," Jessie said.

"What's wrong, you two? Don't you have your trainer's licence with you?"

"Oh," James said, trying not to seem too guilty.

"We're not exactly from around here. I guess our's is different," Jessie said calmly.

"Really? So you want to transfer your credentials? That can easily be done around the corner, provided that you have all the right paperwork."

"Ah..." James fidgeted.

"Forget it," Jessie mumbled. "What's their's is our's and what's our's is our's! We should just walk in, get ourselves a meal, and get out."

"Excuse me?" Nurse Joy said.

"N-Nothing," James said. "Where do we go?"

Nurse Joy gave them directions, and they all soon left. "What is it, James? Don't tell me you got a training licence when you were young to transfer over here or something," Jessie said.

"No," James said. "My parents wouldn't allow that. I just though we should leave there."

"Spineless," Jessie commented.

"Na, James has a point. It wasn't worth it. How hard could it be to forge some paperwork up anyway?" Meowth said.

Pretty difficult, as it turned out. After finding out they didn't have a pokedex, the man at the counter asked for several different documents. Jessie and James began to scribble down what they might look like for later.

"Excuse me," the man said, eventually becoming impatient. "Are you two sure you're actual trainers?"

"Of course we are!" Jessie insisted. "And how dare you insinuate otherwise!"

"I'm sorry ma'am. But you realize there are others waiting. If you could please step aside while you find-"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Meowth said, jumping onto the counter. "These two don't quite have their act together. We've been traveling a long way."

"Ah-" the man began. "Your pokemon... Talks?" he said, looking at Jessie and James.

"You got it. So why don't you talk to me, too?" Meowth suggested.

"Ah... Well, I'm afraid we don't offer any services to pokemon, just their trainers."

"Maybe you could help me out anyway," Meowth said. "You see, me and my humans are trying to meet a pal of our's. He comes from Kanto, just like us. So I'm sure he would have come through your office to switch his training licence over."

"I do handle all of the transfers from Kanto," the man said.

"Perfect!" Meowth said with a smile. "This kid's about fifteen years old. He's always wandering around with a pikachu on his shoulder."

"No, I don't remember dealing with anyone like that since I started a couple of months ago."

Meowth nodded. It had been only a few weeks since they'd all decided to leave for Unova.

"Was he going to be on the direct flight from Kanto? That doesn't arrive until three o'clock."

"Until three? Why are you so sure about that?" Meowth asked.

"Well, it comes in every Tuesday at the same time. My afternoons have a lot of Kanto people then, since here would be the first stop if they're a trainer."

"Thank you, you've been most helpful," Meowth said. "Let's go, you two," he said to Jessie and James.

"Wait," James said, still copying down information for their possible forgeries.

"Let's go, James," Jessie said, pulling him as they all walked out the door.

"I guess we know where we're gonna stake out, then," Meowth said. "Chances are, the twerp will arrive on the direct flight soon."

"Right," Jessie said.

"Then, we can nab his pikachu and his trainer paperwork," Meowth said with a nod.

"Ooo! Good idea, Meowth!" James exclaimed.

"Our rewards will be twofold, then," Jessie said.

"Yup. We'll get powerful pokemon and free food!" Meowth exclaimed. They all ran forward to the dock nearby where the airplane would land.

As Ash stepped off the plane, he was impressed as he looked around. It all seemed a little intimidating, all of the buildings and people around him. "Pika?" Pikachu said. It wasn't used to places that size either.

"I wonder if there are many wild pokemon around here. What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said with a sigh.

"There's a league here, anyway. Even if we don't get any new companions, we'll be able to challenge the league."

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily.

"Now should be good," Meowth said.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie said, jumping out in front of Ash.

"Huh? You?!" Ash said.

"And make it double," James continued, stepping to the side and picking up Pikachu with his rubber-glove covered hands.

"Hey!" Ash shouted. Before he could grab his pokemon back, James had stepped out of his way and put Pikachu in the net Jessie was holding.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"Give it back!" Ash shouted, lunging at them.

Both Jessie and James dodged him. "He's grown, hasn't he?" James muttered.

Jessie nodded. The twerp was becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with as he grew bigger and bigger. She reached to trip him up. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Ash grabbed the net as they continued the motto. "What are you guys doing here anyway? Just give Pikachu back already!"

"Can't you let us finish the motto? Pikachu is our's!"

"No, Pikachu is my pokemon, my friend! You need to stop trying to steal it already! Thundershock, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

"Pika CHU!" Pikachu shouted as it attacked. The net blocked its attack. "Pika!" it said in frustration.

"Let's move it!" Meowth said.

"What about the rest of the motto?" Jessie asked.

"Let's just go already," Meowth said. It reached out and grabbed at the net. "Uh oh..." it said as it realized its mistake. From Meowth's claws, the net had torn slightly.

Ash saw the mistake quickly. "Pikachu, quickly! Thundershock!" he said.

"Pika CHU!" Pikachu attacked again. The electric attack traveled to the rockets this time, shocking all three of them. Jessie made sure not to drop the net, but Ash was able to grab it away from her after the attack.

"Go, Wobbuffet!" Jessie shouted, throwing out her pokemon as Ash untangled his own from their trap.

"Weezing! Go!" James said, following her example.

"You both want to fight this time, huh?" Ash said. He narrowed his eyes at them.

"Hey..." Meowth said. It looked to the sky. The formerly clear weather had grown dark, almost pitch black. As they'd been fighting, a black cloud swirled in the skies, getting closer and closer. Meowth felt something ominous from it. "Um... Maybe we should go," Meowth suggested as the energy seemed to quickly travel toward them.

"Pika," Pikachu said, feeling similarly about the massive energy coming toward them.

"We aren't afraid of a little bad weather," Jessie said, though the wind had picked up quite a bit since they'd started, and it was a pretty nasty looking cloud overhead.

"Yeah," James said, though he also looked warily at the phenomenon above.

"Pikachu, just take care of them, quick! Thundershock!"

"Wobbuffet, counter," Jessie said.

"Wobbuffet." Wobbuffet got ready for the hit.

"Pika CHUUU!" Pikachu let loose with the most powerful attack it could. Instead of going toward the rockets, it traveled up toward the sky. "Pika?" Pikachu said, surprised by its sudden lack of control over its own attacks.

"Wobbu... fet?" Wobbuffet looked up, mirroring Pikachu's confusion.

The shape of a pokemon seemed to appear in the cloud. They all heard a large roar. "Pika..." Pikachu said, frowning.

"What is that?" James demanded.

"Pikachu! Try again," Ash ordered.

"Pika, pikapi." Pikachu shook its head. As it did, a large thunderbolt fell from the sky, hitting it. The rockets screamed and fell backwards.

"Pikachu!" Ash called, running toward his pokemon and picking it up.

"Pika," Pikachu said, still conscious. It looked toward the sky, frowning. The cloud was moving away from them now, the blue sky returning.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika," Pikachu said.

Ash looked ahead. He could see the sign for the pokemon center even from this far away. "We'd better get you some help," he said, then ran forward with his pokemon.

The rockets saw them leave as they swam to shore. They pulled themselves up out of the water and looked at each other. "What was that thing, Meowth?" James asked.

"No way I can tell. It seemed like some kind of powerful pokemon though," Meowth said.

"Hm," Jessie said, squinting as she looked toward the buildings, in the direction it had gone. "That's the kind of thing we really want to catch, isn't it?"

"It is," James said. The three all looked to the sky.

Ash watched the nurse care for Pikachu anxiously. "Is it going to be okay?" he asked.

"Don't worry," Nurse Joy assured. "Your pokemon really didn't look so bad right from when you brought it in. It'll really be fine."

"Good," Ash said in relief.

"In the meantime, please go transfer over your credentials from your previous region. No pokemon center would ever refuse any pokemon emergency care, but you might run into other issues if you don't take care of that quickly."

"Okay," Ash said. "But how do I do that?"

"Did you really get all the way here without knowing that?"

Ash turned around for the source of the voice. "Ah, Misty!" he said.

"That's right," Misty confirmed with a smile. "You're not the only one who can travel to exciting, far away places."

"Weren't you going to be a gym leader again?" Ash asked.

"I am and I will," Misty said sulkily. "But though traveling with you was exhausting, dealing with my sisters was way worse. I'm surprised we're even still an officially league approved gym."

"Yeah, don't you guys just give badges away?" Ash said.

"Not anymore," Misty insisted. "I told them they'd better shut down the gym and let no challengers in while I'm gone."

"That's good," Ash said, sheepishly remembering when he'd 'earned' his own badge from that gym. "So why are you here?

"Well, when you told me about going to Unova, I had the same idea. I thought I'd do some sight seeing, maybe even catch some of the local water pokemon... You can't get some of these anywhere close to home! It's going to be so fun! Though I'm officially here on business, really."

"What kind of business could you do here?" Ash said dubiously.

"Don't you worry about that," Misty said. "Anyway, I'm not really here to help you out, but I'll still show where you need to go if you want me to."

"Yeah, let's go!" Ash said eagerly, grabbing Misty's hand.

"Wait," Misty said, pulling away. "You're still waiting for Pikachu, right?"

"Oh yeah," Ash said.

"Also, we should wait until the commotion dies down outside a little," Misty added.

"Was something going on?" Ash asked.

Misty stared at Ash with a raised eyebrow, trying to determine if his question was sincere or not. "Come on Ash, you had to have been here at least long enough to see it. Didn't you?" she said.

"See what?" Ash demanded irritably.

"Well, outside there was that big dark cloud just about twenty minutes ago or so! People here think it was the appearance of one of their long-gone pokemon. It's kind of a big deal! Were you in here then, or-?"

"Oh, that," Ash said. "Yeah, that big cloud was what attacked Pikachu."

Again Misty was speechless. How did Ash end up in the middle of absolutely everything?

"It just went away right after, though. So it wasn't really being too mean," Ash added.

"Well, maybe you should be out in that commotion, then!" Misty said. "If you were so close, I mean. This is really important to the people in Unova, you know."

"Yeah?" Ash said.

"Yeah!" Misty affirmed. "Come on Ash, you can come back for Pikachu later. You've got to tell someone what you saw."

"I don't really think it was that big a deal," Ash whined, but tripped toward the door with her.

An officer came to meet them there. "You look like the description of the young man I'm looking for," she said to Ash suspiciously. "Did you happen to be the one who attacked Zekrom?"

"No way! I don't even know him, and I don't just go attacking people for no reason!" Ash said.

Misty sighed. "I'm sorry, Officer Jenny," she said. "He's new."

"I see," Jenny said, still frowning as she looked toward Ash.

"But he might be the one you're looking for, though. Just tell her what happened, Ash," Misty said.

"I was just battling Team Rocket to get my pikachu back!" Ash said.

"So even they're here," Misty muttered with a sigh.

"Then this cloud thing attacked it. Maybe it was a pokemon," Ash continued. "That's all."

"I see. I think, and I do hope that you aren't the kind of trainer to assume you might capture such a powerful pokemon. Even if you see it in the wild, you know you should leave pokemon like that alone," Jenny lectured.

"I couldn't even see it very well," Ash said, then thought back on the incident. "I guess Pikachu knew we were upsetting it..." he said.

"Right. I'll have to ask you to come with me to file a report," Jenny said.

"But I want to wait for Pikachu! I have to make sure it's okay!" Ash insisted.

"Please cooperate. A timely report while this is all still fresh in your mind is important, your pokemon should be fine," Jenny said.

"But Pikachu-" Ash began.

"It really won't be that much longer," Joy said, walking over and interrupting their conversation. "I'll walk him over myself and make sure he gets to you, alright?" she said to Jenny.

Jenny nodded, then left. "Please wait right here," Joy said, and then walked back to the next room.

"Ash, you really need to know when to pick your battles," Misty chided.

"I know, I'm just worried about Pikachu," Ash said. "Why would some kind of powerful pokemon attack it?"

"I really don't know, maybe it was just saying hello?" Misty suggested with a shrug. "But Ash, why don't you learn about the legend of Unova if you're going to be here and attracting their creator pokemon and all?"

"Creator pokemon?" Ash repeated.

"Yeah, Zekrom and Reshiram are considered creators among the legendary pokemon, since some people believe they created the whole region and all," Misty said. "Over here."

Ash walked with Misty and they looked at a large wall painting of Reshiram and Zekrom. Ash studied it closely. The white pokemon appeared to be breathing fire while black pokemon appeared to be doing some kind of electric attack, the blue thunderbolts surrounding it. "I don't think the pokemon I saw did anything like that," he said.

"Well, this is just the painter's take on descriptions that have been passed down in legend form for years and years. Statues show what the pokemon looked like, but who knows what their attacks were like at all," Misty said. "Well, except for you and everyone else who saw that pokemon today."

"It's a very nice depiction," a man behind them said.

"Oh, Burgh," Misty said.

"Hello, Misty," Burgh said. "I apologize for rudely interrupting you and your friend."

"Oh, no," Misty said. "Um, Burgh, this is my friend Ash. He's from Kanto too. Ash, this is Burgh, he's the gym leader in this city."

"Oh yeah?" Ash said. "You're the first person I was going to visit in Unova."

"Hm. I'm honored," Burgh said.

"First you, then Nimbasa City," Ash said.

"Well, I can see you're eager to be on your way. But don't be in too much of a rush. There's a lot to see in Unova, you wouldn't want to miss out, would you?"

Ash nodded hesitantly.

Burgh then turned to Misty. "I can see that you've been admiring the painting here. Misty, you're correct that's just interpretation of what's only existed in the imagination for centuries until now. However, art will still vary greatly even in depicting even recent reality."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"Just think about today's event," Burgh began. "How different is my interpretation of what I saw from my gym from your's a few blocks down, or even your friends right in the middle of everything?"

"Yeah, Zekrom is pretty massive, and we all had a different perspective," Misty said.

"It's not only that. Even if we were all on the dock, our experiences would still be colored my many things, such as our attentions, concerns, and previous experiences. If no one had told Ash that it had been Zekrom, what might he have thought?"

"I couldn't see it was a pokemon, it just looked like some weird weather," Ash said.

"Ah, yes," Burgh said. "And there are still some who will want to say your original perspective is what's the 'truth'."

"Ohh," Misty realized. "Even with this many people witnessing it, they're still going to say it's fake, aren't they!"

"Well how can we know? The truth isn't to easy to discern," Burgh said.

"Yeah, but because someone like Ash is at the center, they're going to be able to cover it up again," Misty said.

"What are you talking about, Misty?" Ash asked.

"Zekrom and Reshiram," Misty began, pointing at the painting. "These pokemon who supposedly haven't appeared for centuries, they've been appearing all over Unova! And no one takes it seriously."

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Ash asked.

"Yes! Well, who knows what it means, but people in Unova have a right to know what's been going on!" Misty said.

Ash furrowed his brow. "So should I say it was a pokemon, was Zekrom, maybe?" he asked.

Burgh sighed and then smiled. "Just give your most honest account of what you saw," he said. "People will come to their own conclusions, for one side or the other, without your help."

Ash nodded. He looked back over at the painting. "Why are they fighting, anyway? I thought you said they were creative pokemon, Misty."

"CREATOR pokemon," Misty corrected.

"Yeah, so why would they fight each other?" Ash asked.

"They used to be one pokemon," Burgh said. "They were torn apart by the conflict between truth and ideals."

"What does that mean?" Ash asked.

"It's up to interpretation," Burgh said.

"But interpretation of what?" Ash continued.

"Just think about it. The conflict between how things 'are', and how you 'would' have them be," Misty said.

"I still don't get it," Ash said.

"Come on," Misty sighed. "Is your trainer journey exactly how you wanted it to be when you first started?" she asked.

"No," Ash said. "I mean, I lost at both of the leagues. But even right at the start, I thought I was going to get one of Kanto's starter pokemon, instead I got Pikachu."

"So there you go! Truth, you got a pikachu, verses ideals, you'd rather have had a squirtle, charmander, or bulbasaur," Misty said.

"Well, I guess, but it wasn't bad! I just did my best with Pikachu, and it worked out great!" Ash said.

"Yeah. That's now how it happens for everyone who fails at their ideals," Misty said dryly. "If it was, there would be no reasons to get torn apart." Misty looked at Ash for his response, but he only appeared confused as he continued to think about it.

"Ash!"

Ash looked up as Nurse Joy called him. "Pikachu!" he said, running over to his pokemon, completely pushing the previous conversation from his mind. "You're alright, aren't you?" Ash asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu said in affirmation.

Misty shrugged as she saw her happy friend hugging his pikachu. It was actually refreshing to have people like Ash. She got annoyed with him at times, but his simplistic outlook could be refreshing. And Burgh was right, no matter what Ash said, people would come to the conclusion they wanted.

"So then, Ash-" Nurse Joy began.

"If you don't mind, Nurse Joy, I'll take him to where he needs to be," Burgh said.

"Oh, thank you, Burgh, it would be a help to me."

Burgh nodded. "Ash, if it's okay, I'd like to stay when you talk to Officer Jenny. I'm very interested in hearing your story."

"Yeah, okay," Ash said. "Ready, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu confirmed.

In the disguise of the trenchcoats they'd swiped by the door, Jessie and James watched as Ash left with Burgh to see Jenny, who had still been waiting outside for him. "Now's not a good time to go get Pikachu, is it?" James said.

"Probably not," Jessie said. "I think we should set our sights higher."

"My thoughts exactly," Meowth said, hopping up from where it had been trying to remain hidden on the floor. It looked at the painting of Reshiram and Zekrom on the wall. "Those two pokemon, we should definitely be bringing them back to the boss."

"Exactly!" James said with excitement.

"And you guys both saw what happened out there, right?" Meowth said.

"Right," James said.

"It went right for the twerp's pikachu," Jessie said.

"Oh, it did," James realized.

Jessie nodded. "So, we know that Pikachu can lure that pokemon out."

"This Zekrom seems on a higher tier than Pikachu. But I bet it recognizes Pikachu as a powerful pokemon itself," Meowth said.

"So we'll have to capture Pikachu first," Jessie said.

"Right. Then we can lure out Zekrom," James said.

"And then we can lure out Reshiram, since they can't stop fighting and all," Meowth said, nodding to itself.

"Alright! We'll definitely do this!" Jessie said. "We'll capture Pikachu and then both of these things."

"Do we even know where they were going?" James asked.

"Don't worry, Meowth was paying attention," Meowth said. It took out a map. "He'll battle that guy, then go right on to the next city. We'll avoid the crowds around here and just grab Pikachu along the way. There are probably lots of places to surprise him around this construction site."

"Let's go get ready to get the jump on him, then," Jessie said.

"Right!" James agreed. They all ran out of the pokemon center and charged to the north of the city.


	3. Challenge

**3**  
**Challenge**

"Hey Ash!" Misty called.

Ash had to look around closely. It was a busy time of day and there were many other people wandering around outside. Nearby the park, some relaxed. They danced, played music, and just took in the sun. Unlike other parts of the city, pokemon were allowed out in this area. They joined their trainers in their activities, or just go in the trees and peered around, perhaps resembling wild pokemon themselves.

"That you, Misty?" Ash asked. He was sure he recognized her voice, but he had met several others since coming there.

"Yup," Misty said. She tapped Ash on the shoulder. Ash turned around and saw her. "I think you're going the wrong way," she said.

"No," Ash said. "Burgh's too busy, so I'm going right to challenge Elesa."

"So you won't battle against Burgh?"

"I will! I'll just come back later."

"So impatient," Misty said with a grin. "It's almost like you're the same kid you were as when we met." Misty saw Ash had no comment to that. "Well, I have a better plan for you then. Come with me to meet my friends in Striaton."

"No way, I want to get to battling and earning some badges right away," Ash insisted. "I'm not here just for fun like you!"

"I do know about your one-track mind," Misty said with some annoyance. "And that's part of the reason I asked. These three are gym leaders!"

"Really?" Ash said.

"Yeah. I'm not just here for fun either, you know. I'm both getting mentoring and giving mentoring to fellow gym leaders. So I met those three. They're new. They've got a lot of audience, but not enough challengers. So you should challenge them. Then you can double back and challenge Burgh if he's ready before going on to challenge Elesa. It's a good idea, huh?"

"There's three? Three gyms just in one town?" Ash asked. He furrowed his brow and put a hand to his head. "Isn't it too easy to just go there and get three badges from just one place?"

"No, it's not like that. These three brothers run just one gym. They all specialize in different type pokemon, and they choose who you face, so you can't just plan in advance. The surprise is their gimmick," Misty explained.

"So we won't even know who we're going to battle? That sounds exciting, doesn't it, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"We've definitely got to challenge them and get their badge," Ash decided. "Let's go, Misty! How do we get there?"

"It's kind of in the opposite direction," Misty said. Ash ran ahead of her. "Hey Ash, wait, there's more to the directions than that!" she said, going after him. "And don't think we're going to travel together again... I was just doing my new friends a favor."

Misty realized Ash really didn't seem to care, having a blank expression though he'd certainly heard her. She was kind of glad to see a familiar face. Unova had been good to her, and she'd met a lot of interesting people, but it was good to have Ash back for the moment. She just hoped he didn't notice how much better the brothers of the Striaton were at the sibling thing than her and her sisters.

Yeah, the brothers thing was an interesting gimmick, trainers like Ash often took a liking to it, or were intimidated by it, right away. The way of choosing who would face who was simple though, Misty realized soon enough. But the gimmick worked. Misty almost wanted to copy it at her own gym. But she probably wouldn't be able to there. She and her sisters would all fight over who got to use the water types, and then only Misty would be the serious contender, as her three sisters gave up far too soon.

To each their own, Misty thought. The brothers would have their mystery challenge, and Misty would be an upfront offensive water pokemon leader. But knowing the secrets behind their choice already, Misty was curious how they'd handle Ash. Time to go and see, and maybe deal with some of the flaws in their new gym system.

* * *

Sand got in their eyes as they looked around, in their boot as they walked forward, and in their mouths in they dared to open them. The fact was irritating Jessie, James, and Meowth as they hung around the vast construction site. Other trainers also wandered around, training with the various pokemon types that had come to enjoy the barren, dirty area of land.

Meowth didn't enjoy it at all. "How long could it take that twerp to just battle that gym leader and get over here already?"

"Do you think we could have missed him?" James asked.

"No way!" both Jessie and Meowth shouted.

"We would have caught him if he'd been through here," Jessie said.

"That's right. He follows the same predictable patterns of travel. It's too easy to guess when and where he goes. There's no way we could have missed him here," Meowth said.

James nodded. "But why would he stay in the city for so long?" he asked.

"Who knows, but I'm getting sick of camping out here," Jessie said.

"It's so dirty and dusty," James whined. He could feel the grit in his mouth just from the little bit of talking they'd been doing.

"Well, what do you all think we should do then?!" Meowth demanded.

"Try to trip him up some place a little nicer, of course," Jessie said. "That brat isn't going to stick around here for long when he passes through, anyway."

"Right," James agreed. He thought Ash might want to battle some of the trainers hanging around or even catch some of the wild pokemon, but just wanted to leave at that point. The twerp would eventually be going to Nimbasa City anyway, wouldn't he? James supposed they could catch up with him there, and also knew that tourist attraction didn't have any nasty dust storms to deal with. "Let's go on to Nimbasa."

"Fine," Meowth said. Though disagreeing it was the best course of action, the pokemon was also sick of the area.

They all walked forward, trudging through the area. They reached a lobby, where Jessie and James both tried to comb out their wind and sand damaged hair, and the stepped out into the city. "Wow!" James said.

Jessie felt similarly. She'd gotten the idea from their previous discussion that it was the kind of city that a lot of people wanted to visit. But it looked so impressive. There were various refined or flashy buildings everywhere, each promising a different type of experience. In the distance, she could see the ferris wheel, and other attractions of the theme park. She wanted to go see them all.

"Stop," Meowth ordered as it saw Jessie and James both take a step forward with entranced expressions on their faces. As they looked back at it, it continued. "The twerp and Pikachu will have to go through the same building we did to get here, right? So we should really stick right around here, shouldn't we?"

"Right," Jessie and James said. They both started looking for nearby places to keep an eye on the city's welcoming center.

* * *

James watched the door carefully, all while looking around at the nearby areas. He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped slightly. Looking around, he saw Jessie. "Hey James," she said.

"Did you find him?" James asked.

"No. And I don't think we should just be looking here. Do you?"

"Well, it's possible we missed him," James said.

"Or that he did something different for some reason," Jessie said.

"So, we really should be taking a look around, shouldn't we?" James said.

"Exactly! So, let's go!" Jessie said.

"What about Meowth?" James said.

"Well, someone should still keep watch here," Jessie said. "Since Meowth is being so stubborn about it, it can just be the one to stay."

"Okay," James said. "Where do we go?"

Jessie smiled. "I want to go see the musical theater! Or the amusement park. Where do you think we should go?"

James nodded. Ash was pretty single minded, the trainer would probably be going to the Battle Subway, or Nimbasa's gym, which happened to be part of the amusement park. "We should-"

"The Musical Theater!" Jessie said. She paused as James just stared at her. "I don't want to wait any more. Let's go."

"Do you really think that twerp would be going over there?" James asked as Jessie dragged him forward.

"He could be anywhere, so we might as well start somewhere," Jessie said. She looked at the tickets in her hand that she'd taken from a thoughtless tourist. "This show is supposed to be 'cool'," she said.

"You're all ready to go, aren't you?" James commented.

"Problem?" Jessie said.

"Um, no," James said. It had been a very boring past few days. Though it surely was goofing off, James also found the many attractions of Nimbasa far too tempting. Meowth could keep track of the brat if he showed up anyway, James thought to himself.

Walking in with Jessie to the theater, James was impressed at how fancy the building looked. The carpeting and woodwork were top notch, and the seats were pretty comfortable. The idea had seemed somewhat tacky to James, if fun. But they were taking their pokemon based musicals pretty seriously. "This is nice," he commented to Jessie.

"It is. It used to be used for really fancy human musicals, you know," Jessie said.

"Oh?" James said. "Do you like this kind of thing a lot, Jessie?"

"Kind of," Jessie muttered. When she was younger, she'd wanted to visit a sort of circus that promised to have a pokemon musical. That had been what she'd wanted to see most. She wasn't the same wide-eyed kid as then, but she was an adult, going to see what she wanted, also owning her own cute pokemon. She squeezed James's hand as they entered.

It really was tacky, James realized once the show began. Despite that these musicals were put on in the posh building, the light show and generic music combined with the cheep props half the pokemon used made it undeniably so. Still, he looked at Jessie who seemed kind of caught up in the whole thing. When it ended, he stood up and clapped along with her and the audience which seemed to be made up partly of little boys.

"Did you enjoy it, Jessie?" James asked.

"I bet I could do way better than that," Jessie said.

"Hm?"

"Didn't you know?" Jessie said. "Anyone can participate in these things with their pokemon."

"Oh," James said. That might have been why it had seemed so amateurish, he considered.

A girl stood on stage and shouted out as everyone was leaving. "We still need participants for the afternoon show!" she said.

"See?" Jessie said. "I can do it, I have to try! Let's go!"

"I don't know, doesn't it seem like it's more for little kids?" James said.

Jessie glared at him. "I don't care, James! They charge people for these shows, you know. If there are just little brats putting them on, maybe they need a big sister or something to show them how it's done."

"Y-You're absolutely right, Jessie," James agreed, putting on his hands to try and calm her current intensity. "Let's go, then." He followed Jessie to the sign up area.

"What are we going to do?" a teenage girl whined. "They're not enough participants for my afternoon show."

"You're in luck," James said.

"I'm ready to help you out," Jessie said. "And he'll help you too, if you need it."

The girl still folded her arms, looking sulkily at them. "This is the cute show. If it's not cute, we don't want it in!"

"Are you saying I'm not-" Jessie began.

"Jessie," James interrupted. "It's the pokemon that will be in the show, not you."

Jessie nodded. "I have plenty of cute pokemon," she declared. "Well, only two, but you just need one, right?"

"Maybe two," she said. "But they shouldn't be cute enough to show up Watchog here."

Jessie looked behind her at the tallish rodent-like pokemon, who stared back at her with its frightening, hypnotic, orange eyes. "That might be tough," Jessie muttered.

"What's that?" the girl said.

Jessie shrugged. "If you need help to put on your show, you should take whatever help you can get, right? Beggars can't be choosers. And I have the perfect pokemon, though it might have to be the star."

"Let's see it," the girl said.

Jessie nodded. "Go, Arbok!" she said, throwing out her pokeball. The pokemon appeared, hissing as it did.

"What?" the girl who appeared to be in charge of the musical spoke. "THAT'S your cute pokemon? It's terrifying! Our show is aimed at little girls, you'll frighten them to death!"

"And what would you know, considering your taste?!" Jessie demanded.

James looked from Arbok to the girl's glaring pokemon. "When you compare the two of them, Arbok would be the better star," he said. Not that either of them was the perfect star of a 'cute' show, he thought to himself, though he knew better than to share it.

Jessie nodded, satisfied by James's feedback. "Right, so maybe you should move over and let me be in charge of this thing," she said.

"No, it's Marie's turn," a little girl said.

"Yeah, it's her birthday," another said.

The teenage girl, Marie, nodded. "That's right," she said. "So put away that scary pokemon, and show me your other one."

Jessie glowered at her, but still returned Arbok and then took out her other pokemon. "Go, Wobbuffet!" she said.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet announced its presence.

Marie shrieked. "What is that thing even supposed to be?!" she shouted.

"It's a wobbuffet," Jessie said. "I traded for it in Johto. It should definitely fit your standards of 'cute'!"

"No way," Marie said. "It's just a huge blobbish nightmare!"

"Wobbu... Fet," Wobbuffet appeared to frown at the negative attention. "Wobbuffet?" it said as the two younger girls curiously approached it.

"Stay away from that gross thing!" Marie said, chasing them away. They shrieked as they ran. "See, you're scaring them," she said. Jessie was about to respond by shouting at her when Marie spoke again. "Oh well, we need a fourth pokemon anyway. Just use your other one. Get the freakish one put away."

"Fine," Jessie said, returning Wobbuffet and again sending out Arbok.

"Now, just get out your prop case and we're ready to go," Marie said.

"Here we go," James said, bringing out various objects they had which could be used as props.

"Thanks, James," Jessie said.

"So where is it?" Marie asked.

"What?" Jessie said.

"The prop case, like I just said!"

"Well, I've got plenty of props," Jessie said.

"But where's the case?"

"Case?" James repeated, looking around.

"You need an official Pokemon Musical case to participate! Don't you know anything?!"

Jessie and James now saw the rule, as well as the pricing. So, James realized, this was how they could make money from the participants as well as the audience. He looked at Jessie, who seemed horribly disappointed as she looked at it. "Why should I need one of those cheap-looking things?" she finally said to Marie and the others.

"It's just a rule," one of the younger girls said.

"Well, I don't like it," Jessie said.

"Then you can't really help us, huh," Marie said. "Stupid cheap tourists. Let's find someone else."

"Wait!" James said. "I'll get one. I'll be right back."

Jessie grabbed him by the sleeve. "Come on James, we can't afford something like that," she said.

"No," James agreed. "So we'll just take one!"

Jessie smirked and nodded. She'd been too caught up in the past. Yes, the younger Jessie might have lamented what she couldn't afford. But the grown-up, the member of the awesome Team Rocket which would one day rule the world, could just take what she wanted.

"Here you go," James said, handing Jessie the box he'd swiped and filled with their props.

"Right, here it is," Jessie said to Marie.

"Great," Marie said. "Let's go practice." Marie walked to the door, then suddenly screamed as she looked outside. All of her props were scattered all over the floor. "No! What is this?" she whined. "It's my birthday and everything is ruined!"

"Some people just don't have any respect!"

"Yeah! Some people are just bad, but we can fix it!"

Jessie and James stood to the side silently as the two younger girls comforted Marie. "That was maybe a little too obvious," Jessie said to him. But luckily, no one suspected, and Marie soon had a replacement case. They went on the stage to practice.

"Arbok, don't worry about what she said before," Jessie said. "You're definitely cuter than her freaky thing. You're the cutest of the whole bunch. Right James?"

"Oh... Right," James said. But though he found Arbok to be cuter than Watchog, both of them seemed outclassed in cuteness by the pokemon of the younger girls, who both brought a lillipup and a minccino to the stage.

"We're going to upstage them for sure!" Jessie said.

"Chaabok!" Arbok said.

They practiced for a little more than an hour on stage, just getting the dance routine down. To James, it shouldn't be the type of thing that should just be done in this short amount of time. But the kids seemed to be having fun, and even Jessie was getting into it, directing Arbok just right. She didn't even seem to be trying to stand out, just cooperate with the others as best as she could. Both her and Marie put aside the animosity that had developed, and tried their best to cooperate and get everything just right.

During practice, the stage props had started to be changed. When everyone was done, they all took some time looking around and tried to make sure everything was just right. Then, they were signaled to get ready. "You guys have a few minutes to dress up your pokemon now!" the stagehand said.

"Just a few minutes?" James said.

"If that's all we get, then that's all I need," Jessie said. "Come on Arbok, you're going to be beautiful."

"Right, let's make it cute," James said. Jessie nodded. She and James looked over their props. They covered Arbok's head in a blonde wig, then James held out a tambourine. "It can't hold it," he said.

"That's right! Arbok doesn't have any hands," Jessie said.

"Then it can't hold anything like those pokemon are," James said, looking at the girls with their maracas.

"Hmph." Marie smirked. "You didn't realize that until now?" Jessie and James looked at each other worryingly, and didn't respond to Marie. "Well, hurry up, we don't want your pokemon take attention away from ours for being so ugly," Marie said. She opened up her case. "Here you go," she said, handing one of the props to Jessie.

"What's this?" Jessie asked.

James looked at the paper smiley face. "Um, thanks?" he said, assuming this was Marie's weird way of trying to cheer them up.

"It's a mask," Marie explained. "It should be just right for covering up your ugly pokemon's ugly face."

"How dare you!" Jessie shouted.

James held her back. "Jessie, we don't have that much time left," he said.

"Right," Jessie muttered. She began to look through what James had put into the case.

"Here you go," one of the younger girls handed Jessie a barrett. "Pink will look nice on your pokemon.

"Thanks," Jessie said. She put the pink barrette on Arbok's wig, then took out her trenchcoat and put it on the pokemon, tying the sleeves behind Arbok to help it stay. "There you go, Arbok. You look perfect. What do you think, James?"

James took a look at Arbok now, with its blonde hair and pink barrette. He straightened Arbok's collar. "There! Just perfect!" he said. As far as these amateur events went, Jessie could easily top the competition, even considering with her limited resources.

Marie studied Jessie's pokemon. She looked as if she were going to comment on Arbok's appearance, then just sighed. "Everyone ready?" she said.

"Yes!" the other three said.

The happy music started, and all four pokemon danced onto the stage. Jessie watched happily as Arbok was able to dance even with its awkward body type and being covered in the trenchcoat. The other three did seem to catch more attention with their additional props. "It's too bad Arbok couldn't do something like that," James said as Minccino shook its maraca and the audience cheered.

"Yeah, big deal if they get a little bit of the spotlight. It's Arbok's first musical, so maybe it won't stand out the most. I could figure something else out for it that would be better than their little gimmicks, I bet," Jessie said.

The musical continued, and Jessie had to roll her eyes as she saw Watchog wave around its cane. Then she shouted in surprise as she saw it hit Arbok, having gotten too close while doing its appeal. "Cha!" Arbok said, falling down. Watchog tripped over it, and Minccino and Lillipup both ran into the pile of them.

"W-What," Jessie said.

"No! No way!" Marie said.

"Come on, get up!" the other girls shouted.

James knew they had the right idea, and was about to suggest to Jessie that she give similar instructions to Arbok, when Marie screamed. "No! It's too late!" she said. "Everything's ruined! And it's all your fault!" she said, pointing at Jessie.

"Me?! Your pokemon's the one that attacked mine on stage!" Jessie raged.

"You're the one that wrapped your pokemon up like a birthday present, how's it even supposed to move like that?" Marie pointed out.

"Don't try and put your blunder on me," Jessie argued.

The two continued to argue, and the audience seemed disturbed by the lack of movement on the stage, as the confused pokemon had no idea what to do. The stagehand came to try and break it up. "Come on ladies, even if this happened, we should finish up."

"Oh no, I'm not working with her anymore," Marie said.

James looked around. He saw the two younger girls folding their arms, and one pointed to the stickers on the case that he'd 'acquired' for Jessie. "Arbok, quick," he said, motioning to the pokemon.

"Cha?" Arbok slithered offstage, confused.

James then turned to Jessie. "Come on, Jessie," he said, tapping her arm.

"What is it?" Jessie asked.

"It's about time for us to go," James said, pointing at the girls who held up the stolen case, talking to one of the stagehands.

"Oh," Jessie said. She whipped the coat off of Arbok and took out her pokeball. "Arbok, return," she said.

"Thieves!" Marie eventually shouted as she was informed of the situation. "I don't believe it. They ruined my birthday and stole from me?!" Looking around, she saw that Jessie, James, and Arbok had all disappeared.

"That brat ruined her own damn day," Jessie muttered as they left.

"It's too bad she also ruined Arbok's show. I know you could well, Jessie," James said.

"Yeah, it was just my first try, and we can't always help the drek we work with, I guess," Jessie said, scowling. "Next time should be better."

"Yes, I'm sure we could try it again a different day," James said.

"Why wait?" Jessie said. "I think I heard the next group saying they wanted someone to help too."

"They'll be looking out for us, though," James said.

"Then we'll just have to be someone else," Jessie said. "I think that group of boys might be looking for another guy."

Soon enough, Jessie and James walked passed Marie and her friends who were talking to the police. Jessie was dressed in a suit, James in a dress. "Excuse me," Jessie said, folding her arms as she approached the boys practicing on stage. "I heard you might need an extra participant," she said with a put-on deep voice. James held up a prop case next to her. This one was Marie's brand new one that she'd bought as a replacement, with no personal stickers or markings that might be traced back to her.

The boys nodded. Jessie was soon practicing with them again, this time using Wobbuffet as not to attract attention with the same foreign pokemon she'd already caused a commotion with. Though Wobbuffet was new at it, Jessie now had some experience with instructing pokemon, so Wobbuffet caught on quicker than Arbok had. Then came time for them to dress up wobbuffet.

"No offense to Arbok, but you look better in something like this," Jessie said to Wobbuffet as she put a coat on it.

"Do we want to be that obvious?" James said, noting that she was using the same prop.

"There are mostly different people in the audience," Jessie said with a shrug.

"Excuse me, Miss?" one of the teenage boys they were working with approached James. "This hat would match your, um, boyfriend's pokemon's look perfectly."

"Oh, thank you," James said, trying his best to sound female.

"So he is your boyfriend?"

"Uh, yes," James said awkwardly.

"Oh," the boy said with some disappointment.

"Hmph," Jessie said as he walked away. "Is he more your type than Cassidy, James?"

"Ah-" James began. He was going to say that the kid was definitely too young for him, but he got what Jessie was implying. If he were gay or not was something that he'd considered, but he'd concluded that he really didn't have a strong preference for men as far as that kind of thing went. His reactions to them were about the same as they were for women, though he'd had more experience with women. "No, not really," he said.

Jessie raised an eyebrow. James was so nonchalant as he denied it. If it wasn't true, shouldn't he be outraged at the implication? And if it wasn't true and he were trying to deny it, shouldn't he be similarly outraged? James was very hard to get, she thought to herself.

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet said happily as James put the hat on it.

"Now for another prop, something for Wobbuffet to hold," James said.

"Don't we have something nice, that would match the whole motif?" Jessie said.

"Not the tambourine," James said.

"No," Jessie agreed. "What else is there?

"Maybe this cane?" James said.

"Not the cane," Jessie said, remembering what had happened before.

"Let's just see how it looks. Here, Wobbuffet," James said, handing the pokemon the item.

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet said. It dropped the cane right as it touched its appendage.

"That's right!" Jessie realized. "Wobbuffet doesn't have any thumbs!"

"No fingers at all," James said.

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet said unhappily.

"We can still try something," Jessie said.

As Jessie and James thought, Wobbuffet reached down, and then pulled up the cane, holding it between its two arms. "Wobbuffet!" it said happily.

"I see," Jessie said. "But can you even move and carry it at the same time?"

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet nodded. It moved around to prove that it could.

Jessie nodded. "Yeah, Wobbuffet can do this. Take this instead, though," she said, taking away the cane and replacing it with another object.

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet said dutifully.

"The frying pan?" James said.

"Yes, I think that's just the right thing," Jessie said.

"Okay," James agreed tentatively.

As the musical began, James could see that Jessie had made the right decision. This show was supposed to be 'quirky', and the frying pan fit right in with Wobbuffet itself. "Alright," Jessie said in a whisper. "Now's the perfect time to make the appeal. Do it, Wobbuffet!" She gave her pokemon the signal.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet threw up the frying pan, and the spotlight focused on it. "Wobba!" it said, catching it perfectly. The crowd cheered. Then Wobbuffet hit the pokemon next to it with the frying pan.

"Oh," James said. It was a small mistake. They could easily cover up for it, especially since the crowd was still pretty pleased about Wobbuffet's appeal. Jessie and James together motioned for Wobbuffet to move on. Wobbuffet did so.

But Scrafty was still annoyed. It stopped what it was doing, and unleashed some kind of dark attack at Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet tensed up, and went to defend itself. "Wobba," it said, beginning its mirror coat attack. The effects spread not only to Scrafty, but the other two pokemon.

"Oh no." The boys that had been participating with them looked disappointed. They all sighed, as the show was definitely over, but didn't blame Jessie as the curtain was brought down.

"At least we're the last ones standing," Jessie said as they left.

"It wasn't really a competition," James said. He saw Jessie become even gloomier. "But if it was, you'd have won," he added.

"Thanks James," Jessie said. "I would have for sure," she said to herself, becoming more determined. "Wobbuffet and Arbok were both great. Next time we'll stand out, in the best way!"

"For sure!" James agreed. "But a different day, right?"

"Well, that was the last show for today," Jessie said.

"And now, we can go to the amusement park," James said.

"Isn't it a little late for that?" Jessie said. James held out their participation certificates. Attached were coupons for a free ride on the ferris wheel. Jessie said as she took them. "I didn't even notice that," she said.

"Let's go, then. Shall we?" James said.

Jessie nodded. They entered the park, still open and active even as the sun was setting. Jessie spied the gym, which was closed to participants by now, and she didn't want to think the brat and his pikachu just in that moment, anyway. She went to get on line for the Ferris Wheel with James.

Couples only, huh? Jessie considered the sign as she and James got on the ride. It was too bad she didn't really have anyone special to bring. It had been a while since she'd had anything to do with romance. Not for lack of wanting, just no one special had entered her life in long time.

Jessie knew her type exactly, though, tall and tan with brown hair into a stylish short cut. A real manly man. He would take her to a place like this and tell her how gorgeous and desirable she was. They'd cozy up together and just silently enjoy the lights there.

Jessie imagined the situation now. It would be pretty romantic, floating above the city together. He'd want to put his arm around her, and she'd put her head on his shoulders. Jessie did so now.

Except it wasn't her perfect vision of a man, it was just James. He wasn't her prince at all, he was just some effeminate manchild. But James had been pretty sweet with her today. He often did go out of his way to please her, even in little ways. As Jessie quickly picked up her head and looked at him, he noticed her and smiled. James did look attractive then, his jovial expression lit by the lights of ferris wheel. He put his hand on her's. It did seem like they were in a pretty romantic situation, Jessie thought.

Jessie turned away. No, she wasn't going to be charmed by him. Not even now that she knew he was available. Of course, James didn't know enough to try and charm her, anyway. Jessie put his hand to the side and flicked him in the head.

"OW! Jessie, what was that for?!" James demanded in a whine, his expression completely changing. As she didn't respond, he spoke again. "That hurt!"

Yes, there he was. The whiney, mopey person that she wasn't attracted to at all. Jessie had to remember this face whenever she found herself even considering their relationship in a different context. But even so, she felt a little guilty for upsetting him when he'd been in such a good mood just before. "Sorry," Jessie muttered.

James still frowned in his upset, so Jessie took his hand. She was the one to smile at him this time. James squeezed her hand back. Jessie was happy that James's mood seemed to lighten again soon enough. She sat with him, still holding hands with her as they floated to the top and looked out at the city. Despite herself, Jessie had become a part of a romantic-like scene after all.

They got off and began to walk out of the park. Jessie was about to suggest they stay longer, maybe even to enjoy the atmosphere, when a screech interrupted her thoughts. "There you guys are!" Meowth ran up to them, looking annoyed. "You two just disappeared on me!"

"Didn't you say where we were going?" James said.

"Guess I didn't," Jessie said.

"Whatever. I saw no sign of the twerp," Meowth said. "Tell me you two found something!"

"No, we didn't really do anything today," James said. Jessie flicked him again. "Ow," he whined.

"What?! You did whatever you want left poor Meowth here to make up for your slacking?" Meowth accused.

"Pretty much," Jessie admitted.

"Sorry Meowth," James said.

"I might have liked to do something like that too," Meowth said sulkily.

"Did you want to go back to that place again tomorrow, Jessie?" James asked.

Jessie shook her head. A day off was one thing, but she knew what her goals were and that idling around the way she had been today wouldn't get her anywhere. "We can't really just endlessly mess around," she said.

"That's true," James said.

"Tomorrow, I'm looking for the twerp for real," Jessie said. "We need his pikachu as bait for that creator pokemon. Then we can catch it, go back home, and prove that we're really rocket elites. We can absolutely do this! All of those pokemon will be our's. We'll prove our superiority, even in a region that's never heard of Team Rocket!"

"Right!" James agreed, getting caught up in her fervor.

Meowth nodded. "I say we stop wasting time waiting for that twerp, too. He might have gotten sidetracked. If we can't find sign of him within a day or two, we should double back."

Jessie and James both nodded in agreement. Their plans were set.


	4. Duty

**4**  
**Duty**

Wandering around Castelia City, Jessie, James, and Meowth were still on the job. No one said that job would be easy. They hadn't found a trace of who they were pursuing. They were getting tired and irritated without making any progress at all toward their goals. Meeting up in the plaza, they all frowned, realizing that their partners hadn't found anything either.

Jessie sat down by the formerly impressive and currently irritating fountain. She looked around at the trees and happy kids playing. No nice scenery would impress her now. Unova was becoming a huge disappointment.

"It's kind of difficult to find just one twerp in such a big place," James said.

"I think he's gone," Meowth said, nodding. "That gym's closed. He changed his plans and went someone else."

"But where?" Jessie asked. "We were watching for him, weren't we?"

"I think I have some idea where," Meowth said. "There's other gyms all around this region."

"We can't just run around chasing him and hoping he'll be around," Jessie snapped.

"What else should we do, Jessie?" James asked.

"Something," Jessie said. "I believe in our plan to get the creator pokemon, but in the meantime, we have nothing to show from coming all the way here. Why don't we steal some other pokemon to send back to the boss so at least we've done something in the meantime?"

"That's a good idea," James agreed.

"Yeah, the boss will be impressed to see the Unova pokemon that are super rare to him," Meowth said with a nod. "So how about we keep searching for Pikachu and steal some pokemon along the way?"

"That's exactly what we'll do," Jessie said. "We'll just get some random pokemon to let the boss know we've been doing our job here before we roll in with the big prize later."

"Right!" James and Meowth said.

James turned to Meowth after they'd all agreed. "Meowth, where do you think that twerp and Pikachu went?"

"Hm," Meowth began, putting a paw to its chin to think. "Well, south, over Skyarrow bridge, there's a couple gyms that way."

"Oh!" James exclaimed. "I wanted to go see what that bridge was like."

"We aren't here for sight-seeing," Jessie pointed out.

"I know," James said. "But some trainers will be. We'll be able to find some twerp with regional pokemon easily!"

"And then we'll get their pokemon just as easily," Jessie said.

"Yeah! So let's get going already!" Meowth said.

The rockets walked through the city, eventually reaching the bridge. They strolled across the footbridge over the traffic, looking at the large groups that passed their way. There were several families there. "Doesn't look like there's any serious trainers around," Jessie commented.

"Yeah, we can wait until we see something impressive before we-," Meowth began.

"Oh, Jessie, Meowth, look!" James said. He grabbed Jessie's hand and pointed to the sky, where they saw some pokemon flying over.

Jessie looked at it. "Maybe we need some pokemon like that," she said.

"It would make it easier to get around, huh," Meowth said.

"We can still get a new balloon ready, right?" James said. "This view would be even better from up there, wouldn't it?"

Jessie felt a bit of annoyance. She'd told him they were working, right? They weren't here just for fun. But looking at his enthusiastic expression, Jessie relaxed somewhat, realizing how stressed she'd been getting. Maybe it was okay to just take a moment. Jessie looked out over the water and just relaxed.

Then she realized James was still holding her hand. They had exchanged physical affection like this quite often. They would casually touch each other on the hand or shoulder, even hug, without even thinking about it. But Jessie was thinking about in that moment. She pulled her hand away. James looked at her questioningly. "Is everything okay, Jessie?" he said.

"We're here to work, James!" Jessie said.

"I know," James said.

"So let's get moving!" After Jessie had chided him, she stormed ahead.

"Jessie," James whined, calling out to her. He slowed down as she didn't reply. She seemed angry, and he wasn't sure if it was because of something he'd done.

Meowth caught up with Jessie as James lagged back, giving her some space. "Hey, Jessie," he said.

"What is it?" Jessie asked.

"Did something happen between you two?" Meowth said. They hadn't really been fighting, but Jessie had scolded him more often, mirroring the scene that had just happened as of late.

"No, nothing," Jessie said calmly. "We all just need to be more serious."

"Yeah, okay," Meowth said. Jessie would be Jessie. It wasn't completely out of character that she'd be angry at something that didn't have to do with them and then take it out on them. Meowth kept walking forward without further comment.

"Hey, Meowth," Jessie began.

"Yeah?" Meowth said.

"What would you say to someone who was interested in James?"

"Interested in? Like romantically?" Meowth asked.

"Yeah," Jessie muttered.

"Um... I guess the same thing you would," Meowth said.

"Oh, really?" Jessie said. "And what's that?"

"That you feel sorry for them. Because we know James just doesn't understand stuff like that at all, huh?" Meowth said.

"Sure, right," Jessie said. She definitely understand why Meowth would say that, but she wasn't sure it was true herself. James could act the part of her boyfriend or even girlfriend perfectly undercover. He knew exactly what to say and do then. But when it came to reality, he really did seem clueless at times.

"Lucky for you, Jess!" Meowth began, hopping on her shoulder and smiling. "You know all about him before you did something stupid like fall for him."

Jessie bopped Meowth on the head, right on its charm, and it lost its balance and fell off her shoulder. "Hey, I was just joking!" Meowth insisted. Jessie ignored it and kept walking ahead of them on the bridge.

After some turning around, they eventually reached the end. Jessie wandered around the lookout, then saw a lone teenage boy looking out at the landscape. As their eyes met, he nodded at her politely, then turned away. Jessie looked at what he was holding. It was one of those fancy pokedexes that she'd seen before. "Hey, kid," Jessie said. "Are you a pokemon trainer?"

"Yes," he said. "I'm Cheren, from Nuvema Town. I've just set out on my journey, I have one badge already. Are you-"

"Jessie," James called as he and Meowth caught up. He looked at the kid Jessie had been paying attention to upon arriving. "Who's he?" James said.

"Just some trainer. Do you have a lot of pokemon, kid?" Jessie asked.

"Four," Cheren said. "That's enough for a battle. You aren't a traveling pokemon trainer yourself, are you, Miss?"

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet brought itself out of its pokeball and confirmed for her.

"Well, yeah, maybe I am," Jessie said.

"Oh," Cheren said. He raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Jessie said, noting his skeptical reaction.

"Well, it seems like you're really too old to be a pokemon trainer like this," Cheren explained. "Did you start really late?"

"What are you even talking about, kid?" Jessie asked irritably. She wasn't 'old' at all. Some snotty kid who about the same age as Ash might think he was hot stuff as a new trainer, but that didn't give him the right to set an age limit and insult her like this.

"Well, pokemon training like this is best suited to youth. Correct? By the time you're your age, you should have either become a leader with pokemon training, or moved on to something else in life. Or both," Cheren said.

"What a snob," Jessie said. "I think Team Rocket needs to have his pokemon. Hurry up you two, let's get them."

"Right!" James said, taking out a pokeball.

"Did you want to battle?" Cheren asked. "I am up for a battle, if that's what you'd like."

"Don't flatter yourself. We're going to take your pokemon. Save yourself some trouble and just hand them over," Jessie said.

Cheren's brow furrowed in confusion. He'd only been half-listening to Jessie as he looked at her wobbuffet and decided what pokemon he'd use. "Yes, I know you might be more experienced, but I'm up for a challenge. Let's go, Liepard." Cheren sent out his pokemon.

Jessie became more irritated. "Let's beat this kid already. James, you come help."

"Right! Go, Weezing!" James said.

"Oh, you're her boyfriend, aren't you?" Cheren said. "It must be fun for you to travel together, but..." Cheren paused.

"But what?" Jessie said. Cheren still hesitated. "Go on, what were you going to say?"

"Well, there's no need for matching outfits like that, is there?" Cheren said. "Please don't take it into offence, but I do think it's a little tacky."

"What did you say?!" James said.

"Here he is with his nonsense again," Jessie said.

"These are our unique Team Rocket uniforms. They aren't tacky at all!" James said.

"He's one to talk, anyway. Does that outfit look good for traveling in?" Meowth said.

Cheren briefly glanced at Meowth, then decided to ignore it. "Sorry. I didn't know they were some kind of uniform. I guess you actually do have a job while you're traveling. That's a good idea. Well, you wanted a double battle then? Panpour, it's your turn as well," Cheren said, throwing our another pokeball.

Wobbuffet faced Liepard and Weezing faced Panpour. "What is this," Jessie said, shaking her head. Somehow they'd been goaded into a regular, fair pokemon battle. The kid didn't get that they were going to steal from him. Maybe they should have started out with the Team Rocket motto to let him know they were serious. It didn't matter much anyway, Jessie concluded. They could easily beat this newbie trainer and then have some random pokemon to send back to base.

"What now, Jessie?" James asked.

"Let's just do it," Jessie muttered. "Wobbuffet, counter!"

"Liepard, sand-attack. Panpour, fury swipes," Cheren ordered his pokemon as soon as Jessie had spoken. Liepard kicked sand into Weezing's face as Panpour repeatedly scratched it.

"Hey!" James said. "That's not fair! You shouldn't gang up on someone!"

"I thought you two would be familiar with the rules of double battles. This is perfectly acceptable," Cheren said.

"Just battle, James. Wobbuffet, hurry up and counter!" Jessie said.

"Weezing, sludge attack!" James said. As Wobbuffet performed the futile move at Jessie's insistence, Weezing spat its sludge all over both of Cheren's pokemon. Neither looked pleased, and backed away.

"I won't forget about the other side," Cheren said. He nodded to his pokemon. "Liepard, torment! Panpour, water gun!"

Liepard glared at Wobbuffet. "Wobbu...ffett," Wobbuffet said, frowning. "Wobbu, wobbuffet!" it said, obviously irritated. It was then hit in the face by Panpour's attack.

"Wobbuffet, why didn't you counter?!" Jessie insisted.

"Uh, Jessie," Meowth said, trying to inform her of what Wobbuffet had just said. Jessie ignored it, still absorbed in the battle.

"Now," Cheren said. "Fury swipes, pursuit!"

"Weezing, help Wobbuffet out! Tackle!" James said.

Both of Cheren's pokemon concentrated their attacks on Wobbuffet. Weezing slammed itself against Liepard, but Liepard soon recovered enough to follow Cheren's commands for his pokemon to repeat their attacks.

"Wobbu...ffet," Wobbuffet said as it lay on the ground, obviously unable to battle.

"Wobbuffet!" Jessie shouted.

"Liepard, Panpour, now again, attack the other one," Cheren said. In the now two-against-one battle, they soon knocked out Weezing as well. "Good job," Cheren said as he called back his pokemon.

"Weezing!" James said.

"I know it doesn't seem fair, but I did follow all the rules of the double battle. If one of the opponent's pokemon is knocked out, it's perfectly acceptable for both to attack the remaining one," Cheren explained. "Well, it was an interesting battle. I was worried at first because you both had evolved, powerful pokemon. I know Wobbuffet can be troubling, but it turns out I've just gotten stronger."

"That brat..." Jessie began. She stood up and reached for another pokeball. "I'll show you strong! I'll defeat all of your pokemon and then take them away!"

"No thank you," Cheren said. "I don't have time for a rematch at the moment. But here," he said, reaching in his bag and pulling out some healing items. "I guess you two must be busy with whatever your job is. I'll save you the trip over the bridge and back to the pokemon center."

"Oh, thank you," James said.

Cheren nodded at James. "You know, you aren't very good. Don't quit your job or anything," he advised. "But thank you for the battle, anyway," Cheren said, and gave a slight bow to them before entering the building to get on the bridge.

"Don't thank him!" Jessie chided. James was already using the healing items on his weezing. "Fine," Jessie said, ripping open the one he'd given her. "We'll heal them up and THEN go get that twerp's pokemon," she said.

"Right," James said, trying to hurry at the same time and trying to make sure Weezing was alright.

"Just let it go," Meowth said with a shrug. "That twerp was right, we don't want to back tracked, we have to stay focused. There will be plenty of other trainers like him everywhere, I bet."

"Yeah, fine," Jessie agreed, though she still frowned. If they saw him again, she'd definitely steal his pokemon, she decided to herself. But in the meantime, she knew they should just move on. "We'll just grab the next trainer's pokemon," Jessie said.

"In the next place, we can hide easily after we do," Meowth said. Heading away from the water, they stepped into the thickening forest.

* * *

They plodded along, the forest growing thicker and thicker. Along a stone bridge, they saw a group of trainers. "Hey, how about them?" James said.

"It's a waste to just grab random pokemon. We know Pikachu is exceptional, who knows about these other clods," Meowth said.

"But we still need to have something to show for our time here. So why not," Jessie said. She can James jumped out. "Prepare for-" Jessie began.

"Hey, kids," Meowth began. The two trainers, who must have been twelve, gazed from Jessie and James to down at him.

"Hey..." one said.

"Is it really talking?" the other asked. His gaze went from his friend to Meowth to Jessie and James, wondering who would answer the question.

"That's right," Meowth said. "I was wondering if you guys had seen this other twerp I'm looking for. He's a little older than you, he wanders around with a pikachu-"

"Ash!" the other said. "Yeah, we met him. He beat me in a battle," the kid admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, really," Meowth said. "You wouldn't know where he is now, would you?"

"Um... He was going to Striaton Gym," the kids said.

"That's really out of our way," James said.

"Good thing I asked," Meowth said.

"And now that you've asked, we'll just take," Jessie said. She and James leaned down and grabbed the Pansear and Pansage that the kids had out.

"Hey, wait! Those are our's!" a kid protested.

"Too bad, twerp," James said.

"That's right! Team Rocket owns the world! What's your's is our's and what's our's is our's!" Jessie said.

"Let's go," James said. The other two nodded and they began to run away.

Running through the rustling leaves, they saw a flash of light, and one of the kids had released a large pokemon carrying heavy stone pillars. "Conkeldurr, get them!" he said.

"Ahh!" Meowth shouted as he saw it, and sped up its speed as it ran away.

Jessie and James were momentarily surprised too as they looked behind them. Pansage took the opportunity to bite James's hand. James shouted in pain, and dropped the pokemon. Pansear blew a fire attack toward Jessie, who also dropped the pokemon and then reached to see if her hair was okay. They both turned to the boys angrily.

"So those kids want a fight, huh?" Jessie said.

"Meowth's sure not staying to fight," Meowth said, and began to run away.

"Me neither," James said, looking at the large fighting-type pokemon. "Go, Weezing! Smoke screen!"

They all ran away, off the path and into the woods as the kids shouted after them. Looking around and listening, they figured that they were safe. "You guys could have thought that one through a little better! Those kids might have had more to tell us," Meowth said.

"They told us where the twerp and Pikachu were headed to, what else is there?" Jessie said.

"Maybe I'd know if you two didn't jump the gun," Meowth said.

"Maybe if you two didn't run away like cowards from some little brats, we'd have some pokemon already!" Jessie said.

"Should we just let our pokemon lose again, then?" James said.

"Who said we'd lose!" Jessie said. "You can't just give up when it gets hard! We need to try more and more! Our pokemon were ready for a fight! Let's get back there!" Jessie shouted, and stomped off in a random direction.

"I know that," James said. "But Jessie-"

"That pokemon seemed pretty tough," Meowth said.

"Well, all the more reason we should get it then, right?" Jessie said.

"Excuse me," a girl said as they walked forward.

Jessie observed the girl in front of them, a blonde teenager with a fire-type pokemon in front of her. "It's some twerp," Jessie said.

"The twerp has some pokemon," Meowth said. It exchanged glances with Jessie and James knowingly.

"A talking pokemon?" the girl said, seeming to jump in surprise.

"That's right, I talk," Meowth said with a shrug.

"Forget that, Meowth. We should be thinking of what we need to do," Jessie said.

"That's right! Hey kid, do you have any pokemon?" James asked.

"Yeah," the girl said happily. "I have Pignite here plus three more." Jessie and James both reached for their pokeballs. "Did you want to battle?" she asked.

"No," Jessie said, shaking her head. She wasn't going to get pulled into the trap of a fair 'battle' for the second time today. "Instead, how about you prepare for trouble!" Jessie began the motto with an appropriate pose.

"And make it double!" James followed suit.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

With their final pose, Meowth jumped out in front of them. "Meowth, that's right!" it said.

Wobbuffet released itself from the pokeball. "Wobbuffet!" it added.

The girl still seemed confused, unsure of what was going on. "Um..." she said.

"Okay, twerp," Jessie said. "Now it's time to hand your pokemon over." The girl seemed shocked, frozen from the confrontation, and didn't take much initiate in defending herself. Ordering Wobbuffet, Jessie found it easy to disable her pokemon. Once it was defeated, James covered it with their last net, and Meowth went to grab her bag containing her other pokeballs.

After getting the netted pokemon in the pokeball, they ran off, the trainer girl shouting after them. Jessie didn't feel great about getting the pokemon of the weakest kid they could find, but they really did need the pokemon. The boss had to know they weren't just messing around, and that despite their many recent failures, they were agents to be counted on.

* * *

Going toward Nacrene City, the group stopped in their tracks. There were the two boys they'd attempted to steal from, talking to a police officer. "Let's go the other way for now," Meowth said. The other two nodded in agreement.

"So, what now, Meowth?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, how do we get these pokemon to the boss?" James asked.

"Oh," Meowth said. "Well, that's something you two should have thought of before you went all gung ho!"

"Ug," Jessie was irritated. She thought they'd gotten a little ahead, but instead they were getting even more and more behind, even going in the opposite direction that they were supposed to.

"We couldn't get in the pokemon center to transport them, could we?" James said.

"We'll just send them by regular mail! How hard could that be?" Jessie said.

"It might take a long time," Meowth pointed out.

"So it'll take a long time," Jessie said. She was ready to explode at the next person who told her that their very first step ahead had been useless.

"Jessie," James began.

"What is it?!" Jessie said.

"Uh," James looked away, seeing her annoyance. "Maybe we should build another balloon. It would make things easier to get around."

Jessie smiled and nodded. "Right! That should be our very next step! Then capture Pikachu, and then travel all around Unova and use it as a beacon so we can get Zekrom and REALLY impress the boss!" Jessie said.

"There's no way it wouldn't impress the boss!" James said.

"Yeah!" Meowth said. "Cassidy and Butch might have captured legendary pokemon, but never a freaking god level one!"

Jessie grinned as she realized he was right. "It's true. We'll overshadow them completely."

"And then use Zekrom to capture Reshiram, and then use both of them to conquer Unova, all for the boss," Meowth said.

"We'll be promoted to the very top, where no one's ever been before," Jessie said.

James shouted in delight at the thought. "Yes! We're going to be the greatest Team Rocket members of all!"

Jessie felt the happy energy of the group, and felt some relief herself. Since they'd come to Unova, it seemed like it had been even more frustrating than usual. But their talk had her full of energy and inspiration to accomplish this task. "Alright! Let's get moving!" she said.

"Right!" Meowth and James said.

They moved forward on the path, hoping that the scene on the other side of the forest would have cleared. They saw someone approaching, and then moved off the path. Whoever it was kept getting closer, and the group soon recognized her as the girl they'd just stolen from. After catching her breath, the girl frowned, looking at them with a sort of puppy-dog expression. "Please give me back my pokemon," she said.

Jessie just smirked. It annoyed her that the girl would think that this kind of thing would sway them. "You think you can order us around, twerp?"

"No," the girl shook her head. "I know I can't make you do anything. Even when I had my pokemon, your's was better. Now I can just ask you to please give back my pokemon. I need to protect them."

"Too bad," James.

Meowth nodded. "Your pokemon now belong to Team Rocket!"

That's right, Jessie thought, Team Rocket had a right to use pokemon it didn't own to further its own agenda, because its agenda was to own the entire world. They weren't going to give this girl's pokemon back just because she'd looked at them pathetically and asked sweetly. Jessie's gaze turned toward the other girl, who'd just arrived, a large pokemon by her side. It wasn't as disgusting-looking as the one before had been, so Jessie wasn't too concerned, and could see that James and Meowth weren't either. The newbie's friend was probably a newbie too, they all figured.

The new girl walked up to them, her stature and demeanor nothing like the blonde's. "You guys are jerks, huh?" she said confidently.

"Hm?" James took notice of her.

Jessie shrugged. "You're not the first to say something like that, kid."

"Bianca's really nice. You made a mistake. If you were going to mess with someone, you should have picked someone else," the newcomer continued.

"We don't care about who's 'nice'," Jessie said. It was naïve to think that just being nice would get them anywhere, she thought.

"Yeah! All pokemon belong to Team Rocket in the first place!" James said.

"That's right," Meowth confirmed. "So kid, why don't you hand over your's?"

The other girl just smirked at them. "Yeah, I didn't mean you should have left her alone before she's just so nice," she clarified, holding up her hand for some reason. "It's because she's the girl that I love, and I think I'm out of your league. Fraxure, go! Attack that meowth, dragon rage!"

"What?" Meowth froze up as the larger pokemon approached. "Oh, no. This pokemon isn't around for that kind of fight! Jessie, James, you two better get ready!"

"Go, Arbok!" Jessie said. "Arbok, wrap!" she said, pointing at Fraxure. She'd take care of this pokemon the same as she'd taken care of her friend's. But Arbok was soon defeated as the girl calmly ordered her pokemon to attack. Jessie was irritated, and sent out Wobbuffet to clean up. As Jessie ordered Wobbuffet to get ready to counter any attack, her opponent just stood there, folding her arms and looking confidently at them, though she did nothing.

"It isn't going to attack?" James said.

"I don't think this is a regular kid, you guys," Meowth said.

"Maybe not," Jessie said. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Wobbuffet, get ready to counter," Jessie said. Still, both pokemon just stood there. Jessie clenched her jaw in annoyance that her opponent seemed to keep up the haughty attitude even as her pokemon idled, only dancing around. "Come on, just attack if you're going to attack already!" Jessie demanded.

"I will," the girl said. "But you know it'll probably hurt your pokemon, there. I guess you don't know who I am, but I'm a pretty powerful, well-known trainer around here."

"You think you're some kind of hotshot?" Jessie asked.

"Hey, I'm not saying this to brag, just so I'm not bullying you without you knowing anything."

Ug, Jessie thought, she was so full of herself. Wobbuffet would teach her though, sending back double the force that her pokemon attacked it with.

But the pokemon still didn't make a move. "That's her's, right?" the younger girl said, motioning toward Meowth, who still held the girl's bag. "Just hand it over and we're good."

Jessie clenched her fist. "You think you can beat us, twerp? Just try it," she dared.

The girl pointed forward in response. "Dragon tail," she said, finally ordering her pokemon.

The force was too strong. It didn't just hit Wobbuffet, it hit all around them and sent them flying. The bag Meowth had been carrying was snatched away by another pokemon. "We're blasting off," the group shouted unhappily.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet said.

They hit the ground. "Ug," Jessie said.

"I lost it," Meowth said.

"Our pokemon to send back to the boss!" James fretted.

"Don't even think about it," Jessie said. "We weren't being focused enough. We have a plan to capture the most powerful pokemon in this region. Who cares if we messed up with something small like this! We're going to be successful when it actually counts."

"Right," James said. He nodded at looked at Jessie with a determined expression.

Meowth also mirrored the sentiment. "Right! Let's get everything we need so we can just float away once we meet up with he twerp. We might have to do a little temp work or something for funds though..."

"Whatever it takes," Jessie said.

* * *

In a few days time, they'd earned some money, and bought or otherwise acquired what they needed. In a secluded part of Pinwheel Forest, they sat finishing the hot air balloon. James smiled as he was putting the finishing touches on it. He'd be happy to be more easily mobile again, and also that they'd made the first step in their plan.

"Maybe the twerp's gone from that one city by now," Jessie said.

"We'll find him, Jessie," James said, and smiled at her.

Jessie nodded, then wandered away, leaving James to finish up the work. She began to feel a fluttery, somewhat pleasant, somewhat unsettling feeling in her stomach. Just from having him smile at her, Jessie thought to herself. Sure he smiled nicely sometimes and cheered her up sometimes. But he could also be really mopey and depressive. No, she didn't like James at all, Jessie assured herself.

"You ready to go?" Meowth said.

"Nothing's wrong," Jessie said quickly.

"Um, what?" Meowth said. It hadn't said anything was. "What's with you?"

"Nothing!" Jessie insisted.

"If something's up, you'd better tell us," Meowth said.

"It's nothing like that," Jessie said. "I'm just worried I might be crushing on James." Jessie glared at Meowth, ready to smack it if it laughed.

Meowth could see how testy she was easily, and put up its arms. "Ah, Jessie, are you sure?" it asked.

"No, not really," Jessie said. "Maybe it's just because he was talking about how he's not even with who I thought was his stupid girlfriend. I don't know. If I was, how do you think it would go?" she asked.

"Um, well, since you've known him this long and you're still thinking this, maybe it'd work out," Meowth said. It saw Jessie smiling softly at its response. "But, you know, things might get weird, too. It would mess up our teamwork if it did. So you should just forget about it! Alright?" Meowth looked toward Jessie, who wandered toward James, apparently only having heard the first part of what it had said, and shook its head. Hopefully things wouldn't get too weird.

"James, how could you have forgotten how to do this?" Jessie demanded as she approached him again.

"Isn't it fine this way?" James said.

Meowth sighed in relief. It was business as usual. No, Meowth couldn't see things getting too weird between its friends.

They finished up and took off. They floated above pinwheel forest, seeing the thick trees and simple stone path. Looking around, they all noticed the same thing at once. "Look!" they said at once, pointing ahead. Though it was in the distance, they noticed the tiny figure easily. It was Ash, Pikachu on his shoulder. They exchanged pleased glances.

"Looks like this could be easier and quicker than we thought," Meowth said. Jessie and James both nodded in agreement.


	5. The Edge of Dreams

**5**  
**The Edge of Dreams**

Ash walked through the forest alone. He saw the approaching bridge. He hadn't taken the time to admire it from this angle before. It seemed even more impressive than when he'd seen it from the other side, with the city as a backdrop. "Look, Pikachu," he said. "It's a great day, huh?"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"I bet Burgh will be ready for a gym battle by now," Ash said. He certainly hoped so, he'd taken a long side trip. He'd been able to earn two badges along the way, but still was excited to visit Burgh's bug gym. After that, he knew where he was going. The Striaton brothers had helped him map his way to how he'd get eight, the amount required for the league.

Without realizing it, Ash had picked up the pace, beginning to run forward excitedly. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and followed him. Then, just as suddenly, they found themselves lifted off the ground.

"Pika?!" Pikachu said.

"What? Pikachu?" Ash said. "What is this?"

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie began as she and James jumped into the open.

"And make it double!"

"You guys?!" Ash said. "You're still around?!"

"That's right. And you can guess what we're here for, huh?" Jessie said, her eyes focusing on the pikachu.

"Yeah," Ash said. "Pikachu, get down there and take care of them!" Ash ordered.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, and went through the holes in the net that were too small for Ash, but just the right size for itself. "Pi?" It realized it had made a mistake only as it started to fall. Jessie and James giggled as it fell into the bag. "Pika?!" Pikachu said once inside.

"Pikachu, we've got you!" Meowth said, tying the electric-proof bag shut before Pikachu could even react.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said angrily, trying to bite its way out of the bag as James picked it up.

"That won't work," James said.

"But try all you want," Jessie said.

"Let's move it, you two," Meowth said.

"Right," James said.

"Later, twerp," Jessie said.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted as they ran off, and struggled to try and get himself out of the net.

The rockets went into the balloon, and floated up into the sky. "Now where to?" James said.

"Some place we won't be tracked down. I say over here," Meowth said, pointing to the center of the map.

"Why there?" Jessie asked.

"No one's even supposed to go here. You can't even get there by foot." Meowth said. "Weird, huh? Maybe they're hiding something good. But in any case, we won't find a lot of people looking for us where they aren't even supposed to be."

"Good idea, Meowth!" James said.

"Yeah, then we can figure out how to find Zekrom, can't we?" Jessie said.

"Or we can use Pikachu as a beacon right when we're there," Meowth said.

"Even better idea," Jessie said.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said adamantly. The group paid less and less attention to it as they moved along. It continued to try and bite through the material that held it, but Jessie had been right, it was useless. They'd really trapped it. Except for the fact it was just a bag, tied up relatively loosely at the top. "Pika..." Pikachu muttered to itself. It began to push at the top of the bag, gradually loosening the knot.

"Is that it?" Jessie said as they approached the round, island-ish thing in the middle of the land.

"I think it is," James said. He began to lower them to the ground.

"That's it for sure," Meowth said. It suddenly noticed Pikachu, just about to break out of the bag. "Hey!" Meowth said.

Both Jessie and James noticed it as Meowth pointed it out, and lunged for the bag. They bumped their heads together. "Watch it, James!" Jessie said irritably.

James rubbed his head where he'd been hit, and then reached for Pikachu, stopping it just before it escaped.

"Pika..." Pikachu said irritably. "Chu!" It swung itself backward and used the force to hit James.

"Ow," James said, nearly dropping the bag.

"Give me that," Jessie said, grabbing for it. As she did, it seemed to be grabbed away from her again. "Hey!" Jessie said, turning to James. But he hadn't been the one to take it. Pikachu in bag was now floating outside the balloon. All the rockets shouted in surprise. "Our Pikachu!" Jessie said. "Hurry up you two, follow it!"

They landed as quickly as they could, then jumped out in pursuit. Running after the inexplicably fleeing Pikachu, they eventually stopped as they saw a woman standing in front of them. "Hm?" she said, seeming confused at them being there. "Oh..." she said, seeing Pikachu in front of her.

"Hey! Are you the thief? You'd better give us back our Pikachu," Jessie said.

"Right," the woman nodded. "I'm sorry for this. Munna!"

The pink psychic-type pokemon let out a cry as it came into the open. "Muu..." it said. Pikachu was gently lowered to the ground with the pokemon's psychic force.

"I assure you I didn't mean to steal," the woman said. "I guess my Munna got carried away."

"Well, good," Jessie said, folding her arms.

"I'm not actually a pokemon trainer in the first place. My name's Fennel, I'm just here doing some research."

"So can we have Pikachu back, then?" James said.

"Yes," Fennel said, nodding hesitantly. "But I really don't think that's the best place to keep your pokemon. I think I'm going to let it out."

"Don't!" Jessie and James shouted at once.

"It's cute and all, but it's actually a super-powered Pikachu, and it will attack everyone here," Jessie explained.

"Chu..." Pikachu said, glaring at the group, its cheeks sparking.

"I see..." Fennel said, noting the pokemon's aggressive posture. "Couldn't you just return it to its pokeball?" she asked.

"We lost it," James said, fidgeting awkwardly.

"Oh," Fennel said. She still seemed hesitant even as they spoke, but appeared to accept it. "I know you love your pokemon, I can see it from how you designed your balloon after the other one, but I think there's a better way to deal with an unruly pokemon than this."

"It's none of your business, is it?" Jessie said.

"Right," Fennel said. "I'm sorry, but I do know a lot of people who may be able to help you appropriately train it."

"Hey!" Meowth said. "I'm not their pokemon, you know," it asserted.

"Oh," Fennel said in surprise. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, then put them back on.

"So you say you're researching here, huh? What kind of research?" Meowth asked.

"Um," Fennel began, feeling strange talking to a pokemon. She recognized it as a Meowth. She'd seen some before, but they certainly didn't talk. "Well, you see, it's so close to Entralink. You do know your balloon there was heading straight for Entralink, don't you?"

Jessie and James straightened their backs, realizing they couldn't hide that little bit of law-breaking, but Meowth remained calm and responded. "It was headed where?"

"It seemed awfully close," Fennel said with a nod. "To Entralink, I mean."

"Well, we're new here," Meowth explained.

"Is that so?" Fennel said.

"Yep. We're just doing a little sight-seeing. So we'll head over there," Meowth pointed to Entralink.

"You can't!" Fennel said.

"Why not?" Jessie said.

"Haven't you looked at a map? A guide?" Fennel asked. She waited for an answer, scrutinizing their reactions.

"Um, well, yeah," Meowth finally admitted.

"No one's supposed to be allowed, right?" Jessie said.

"Sounds exciting!" James said.

"You think the same, don't you?" Meowth said.

"Yeah, doing some 'research'," Jessie said. She pointed an accusing finger Fennel's way, trying to turn her suspicion back on her.

"That's right," Fennel confirmed without any guilt in her voice. "I'm pretty sure the reason why I'm not allowed has something to do with my research. I'm researching dream mist. Have you heard of it?"

"No," James said.

"Tell us about it," Meowth invited.

"Well, it's really very amazing, it might not seem real, since you aren't from Unova-"

"Well, what is it?" Jessie asked. She motioned to James to go over to Pikachu while Fennel was distracted.

"It's a substance developed by munna as a method of defence. It can produce districting illusions when threats are nearby, stemming from the target's own mind. It's really very useful for them, don't you think? And also amazingly fascinating, isn't it?"

"Yeah, fascinating," Jessie said with a nod, peaking over and watching James inch toward Pikachu. He eventually reached it and grabbed the bag up.

"Pika," Pikachu said unhappily.

"Oh..." Fennel turned around to James and Pikachu and frowned. "I think I could help you get a new pokeball for your pokemon," she said.

"We'll take care of it ourselves," Jessie said. "Now-"

"So, your munna makes dream mist too?" Meowth asked. Unlike Jessie, it was honestly interested in what Fennel had been saying.

"Yes," Fennel said. "All munna do, as well as their evolution, musharna."

"So it must be pretty rare... And with an awesome ability," Meowth said, spying a look toward its partners.

"Oh, no! Not at all," Fennel said. "In fact, let me get around to my point about Entralink. You see, munna aren't exactly rare in Unova, and Entralink is swarming with them, from what I understand. So I believe access to Entralink is blocked due to an excess of dream mist."

"You believe? You don't know it?" Meowth said.

"No," Fennel said. "I've tried to be granted temporary access myself, but I've been denied over and over. They won't share the reasons, but it's because the area must be very dangerous. You don't want to go there yourself."

"What's so dangerous about a bunch of 'dream mist'?" Jessie asked.

"You just never know what you'll see! It appears in front of you like anything that's 'real'. It can show you your dreams, even your greatest desires. Do you want to take a look?" Fennel invited. She ran over to her campsite, and pulled a container out of a bag, then began to get a tray from her tent.

"Well, okay," James said.

Jessie grabbed him by the collar. She looked at him irritably as he turned around and gave her a questioning expression. "Don't," she said.

"Why not?" James said.

"Yeah, might not be a good idea," Meowth muttered.

"It might be dangerous when you encounter it in the wild, but I assure you, there's no danger now," Fennel said.

"Hmph," Jessie began. "We don't need some 'dream mist' to show what we want most. We're on the way to getting it all ourselves. Right James?"

"Right, Jessie," James said, and nodded confidently.

"Well, it might show you that, but it also might show you your fears, or just something you'd been hoping or just expecting to see. Whatever it takes out of your subconscious first to distract you."

"Well, we aren't afraid of anything like that," Jessie said.

"No way!" James agreed. "We'll go there anyway!"

"It's not a matter of bravery, it's also illegal," Fennel said. Jessie and James now walked away from her, Jessie waving a hand flippantly in her direction.

"Piiika," Pikachu whined. Fennel frowned as she saw it, but only stood, saying nothing else as they walked away.

* * *

Meowth sighed in relief as they floated above the ground in the air, seeing the flashy lights of the city ahead. "Glad you two actually showed some sense," it said.

"Yeah," Jessie said, staring forward absent-mindedly at the ground, where the ferris wheel had just lit up in the fading daylight. "Who wants to go back there if we'll end up losing ourselves and acting like idiots?"

"Oh, no," Meowth said. "I just meant it was good that you all didn't go and sniff whatever that stuff was right away."

"We're not stupid, Meowth," Jessie said.

"What would be so bad? I wonder what we'd see," James said.

"Well, I'm not stupid," Jessie added, turning away from James.

"That lady seemed like she's gone a little nuts from it. There was something funny about her." Meowth said. "It's not just good to go messing around with random stuff like that."

"I guess so," James said. It still seemed pretty harmless to him. "What do you think you'd see, Meowth? If it was what we wanted most?"

Meowth paused, thinking about it honestly. "I dunno. A world where I'd be picked over a persian, I guess," it said.

"Pika," Pikachu muttered, unnoticed.

"What about you, Jessie?" James asked.

"Nothing I won't see in the near future anyway," Jessie said.

"That's right," James said. "Well, I really think my dream's met with you here already," he said. Jessie blushed and Meowth cringed at the comment. "We're on our way to a speedy success together, there's nothing else I want!"

Ug, Meowth thought to itself, it might want to talk to James about not making thoughtless comments like that later. Jessie turned away, looking annoyed, and James looked over at Pikachu. They both continued unbothered as they began to descend into a secluded area outside the city.

"Now what?" Jessie said, looking at the crowd in the distance. "We can't try and summon it here."

"That's not why I wanted us to come here," Meowth said. "We're still going to use Entralink. That Fennel lady was pretty nuts, who knows if there's any of her dream smog over there at all. But just in case, we'll get something to filter it out."

"Good idea," Jessie said.

"Let's go buy it!" James said.

"No so fast. We ought to wait until morning, and we can't leave Pikachu in that bag all night. One of you will have to move it to something sturdier," Meowth said. It turned to Jessie. "Why don't you, Jessie? We'll go buy what we need."

"Oh, no way," Jessie said. "You can, James."

"What? I don't want to! Isn't it your turn?" James said.

"Just do it! You'd probably spend all our money on something we don't need, anyway. I'll be back in a while." Jessie began walking off.

James frowned, and then picked up the bag containing Pikachu. "Don't worry, Pikachu, we'll get you in a nice cage. Then we'll let you out later," he said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said, tensing up in the bag, its cheeks sparking. It was extra irritated during this extended capture, being thrown around in a bag like this. Still, it wasn't going to be happy or appreciative by being moved to a better confined area.

"Hey, James. Wait before you go and start that," Meowth said.

"Hm?" James said. "I can't, Meowth. You know I should finish before Jessie gets back."

"That's just it, I need to talk to you before Jessie gets back!" Meowth said.

"Okay," James said. Despite what he said, James still didn't pay attention to Meowth. Instead he began rooting around in the hot air balloon for the tools and materials they'd bought before. He began to build the cage they'd be using, thinking he needed to move quickly.

"Hey, listen up!" Meowth said.

"What is it?" James asked, looking up from his work at Meowth, though he soon glanced quickly back at Pikachu to make sure it wasn't escaping. He moved Pikachu and adjusted the light so he could both work and watch the pokemon in the fading daylight.

"James, come on, I really need to talk to you!" Meowth said.

"Alright, Meowth," James said, and looked toward it, giving it his honest attention.

Meowth gained eye contact with James and was satisfied that he was listening, so began. "James, you know, Jessie might be getting kind of sweet on you, so don't say any weird stuff like you were saying before."

James finally did seem to have a genuine attention toward Meowth, but just wore a confused expression, as if Meowth had told him something completely off the wall.

"Um, you understand, right Jimmy?" Meowth said. "I guess it wouldn't be worth mentioning, but I just want you to watch yourself. You know how Jessie can get."

"Meowth, I wasn't doing anything 'weird' at all!" James said.

"I guess not," Meowth said, scratching its head. "But when you told her just being with her was your greatest dream, that was-"

"I meant you too, Meowth," James said, smiling. "Just being able to travel with both of you to finally reach success is-"

"Yeah, that's sweet and all," Meowth said, quickly interrupting him before they got off topic. "But you can see how someone crushing on you might take it, don't you?"

"I guess so," James said.

"So just avoid talking about it around Jessie, since she does. Okay?" Meowth said. Would his friend finally get it, Meowth wondered?

"Hm," James said, furrowing his brow as he thought to himself. "Meowth, I don't think Jessie thinks anything like that about me at all," he finally said.

"She does!" Meowth said. "That's the whole reason why I said something to you."

"Why would you think so?" James asked, still with a confused expression.

"Because she told me she was maybe starting to, that's why!" Meowth said.

"Really?" James said, his eyes growing wide.

"Yeah! You get it now?" Meowth said.

James nodded as he continued to consider it in his surprise. He hadn't really thought of Jessie like that at all before. They'd spent a lot of time together. He'd always just been very comfortable with the fact that they could spend time with each other and NOT have it mean anything romantic. Since they could treat each other as people and not possible romantic conquests, James believed they'd grown very close.

But romance might be nice, James considered. Romance with someone he was already able to be so relaxed around didn't sound so bad. James didn't really hate the idea of romance, just the reality. Any 'romance' he'd been involved with had seemed so uncomfortable, unnatural, and forced.

But he couldn't imagine anything being that way with Jessie. They'd more or less been pretty honest with each other. If she was beginning to think of him romantically, maybe a real sort of 'love' could develop from that. It might be the one of his ideals instead of just the fake, unappealing version he'd been force-fed all his life. It was nice to be wanted, and it was nice to be loved.

James had to admit that he really did care about Jessie intensely. It might be considered romantic, he considered. Thinking about it, he began to like the idea. Wouldn't it be wonderful to actually have the version of love that he'd given up believing was even real?

"Oh, no," Meowth said. It saw that James was no longer listening, just looking away while day-dreaming, smiling even. Meowth pushed its paw into its face and shook its head. Why did James have to have this kind of reaction now? He'd never, ever, acted like this before. "Come on!" Meowth prodded him.

"Oh, right, I'll finish this," James said.

"And you'll remember what I said too, right?" Meowth said. "I bet if you started talking about how much you missed your girlfriend back home, she'd forget all about it."

James's demeanor changed right away. He put his head down and frowned. It was time to concentrate on the project in front of him, he considered. He didn't respond to Meowth at all as he began to add the layers of the electric-proof cage.

"Yeah, we don't want to deal with any weirdness. Just say it once, and I bet she'll forget all about her little crush on you. Just say how much you miss that other girl, and-" Meowth said.

"I don't miss her!" James insisted.

Meowth nodded, and decided to drop the subject. No, there's no way James could fool Jessie that he was actually interested in his 'girlfriend', anyway, though just him trying to might be enough to kill her little crush on him. But he wouldn't do that, so it looked like things might get weird after all. Meowth sighed to itself.

After a while, James had finally finished the cage. "There!" he said. "Now I'll get Pikachu."

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted as the bag was again picked up.

James looked at the cross pikachu, and the back at the cage. It was going to be difficult to get it inside without it escape or attacking him. "Um... Meowth?" he said.

"Go ahead, James. You're done with it, right?" Meowth said.

James frowned. He wasn't going to get any help. He put the bag on the ground, and then carefully untied the top. He then quickly held it closed. Pikachu was still glaring up at him, not doing anything. Maybe it would be okay to just take him and put him in. Carefully, James began to open the top. Then he quickly grabbed onto Pikachu.

"Pika CHUUUU!" Pikachu shouted, attacking James the instant it was out. As James tried to recover from the electric attack, Pikachu was biting his gloved hand as hard as it could, attempting to cause enough pain for him to be dropped. "Piiiika," it began, its cheeks sparking, getting ready for another attack.

James had been prepared for all kinds of pain, as well as what Pikachu was going to do next. It shoved the struggling pokemon into the cage, and then slammed it shut. James breathed a sigh of relief, even as Pikachu shouted at him.

"So, you're done?" Jessie said. She'd caught just the tail end, which had looked pretty painful. She was glad the task was done, but felt a little guilty that she'd left James to it all on his own. He'd probably complain now.

"Jessie!" James said happily. The first thing to come to his mind was what Meowth had said, that she might have romantic feelings for him. But he really shouldn't expect that. Besides, he was being honest before, what he had with Jessie now was what he wanted. He didn't really expect anything else.

"What's with you?" Jessie asked, raising her eyebrow. It wasn't the reaction she'd expected, and now he was acting kind of weird.

"Nothing," James insisted. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, and calmed the happy fluttery feeling that he had in his stomach. He'd never thought he could feel something like this again, but Jessie was still Jessie after all. Nothing was different from before, even if it felt like it.

"Yeah, okay," Jessie said. "I've got these for us," she said, and took out several gas masks from the bag, including a small pokemon-sized one for Meowth.

"Great!" Meowth said. "Now we won't have to worry about that funny dream mist at all!"

"Right!" Jessie and James agreed.

* * *

Misty had thought she'd seen a familiar face. Exiting Elesa's gym, she looked across the way and saw someone way in the distance. No, it couldn't be, she thought. But sure enough, as she exited the park, she saw Jessie rushing by her.

Hadn't Ash just said he'd seen Team Rocket in the pinwheel forest, where they'd stolen his pokemon yet again? That was a few hours ago, she supposed they might have made it over to Nimbasa since then. Misty confirmed that it was certainly Jessie as she went around shopping. She looked around warily for the other two, but they weren't around.

But just as she was looking, Jessie ran right into her. "Watch it!" Jessie said. She picked up her bags right away, and then looked at Misty. "Oh, it's the twerpette," she said.

"Are you really going to keep calling me that, Jessie?" Misty said.

"Why not? It's what you are," Jessie said.

"I'm a experienced gym leader here to consult with other gym leaders of Unova. We've been learning a lot from each other. What have you been up to?" Misty said.

Jessie grimaced. So even Misty thought she was a hot shot now. "We've got our sights set way higher than anything like that," she said.

"Oh?" Misty said.

"Yeah, that's right," Jessie insisted. She paused, remembering the other girl they'd come across who'd thought she'd was a big deal. That girl had actually caused a lot of trouble for them. Misty might do the same if she wasn't careful. "Hey, you've got no reason to bother me right now, do you?" she said.

"No," Misty quickly lied. No reason for Jessie to know that she knew exactly what they'd been up to, and had plenty of reason to 'bother' her.

"So, we don't have to pretend we're friends, let's just go our separate ways, then," Jessie said.

Misty shrugged, trying not to appear too interested. She went off in the other direction casually. Then she glared back over at Jessie. She was wandering off, seemingly without much concern. Misty began to follow her.

Eventually Jessie wandering off into the forest to the north. Misty stopped following her as she stopped being able to see what was in front of her. There was no point in this light. She went back into the city, and picked up her brand new xtransceiver.

"Yeah, Misty?" Ash said, the signal only picking up audio.

"Hey, Ash?" Misty began talking as he began as he tersely greeted her. "I found Team Rocket."

"What?! Did you get Pikachu?" Ash said.

"Um, I'll try early in the morning. I don't know where they are right now, but they can't get too far in the dark I think.

"Come on, Misty! We have to chase them down right away!" Ash said.

"Yeah," Misty began. "I know you're worried. Should I call the police then?"

"Forget it! I'm close enough, I'll just go and take care of them myself!" Ash said.

"Ash, don't be like that! You should ask for help when they need it!"

"So you'll be there to help me?" Ash said.

"Yeah," Misty sighed. "Just call me when you're nearby, then," she said.

"Great! Thanks Misty!" Ash said, and the communication abruptly cut off with a click.

* * *

Jessie awoke abruptly, and saw the very beginning of daylight. That wasn't what had woken her up though, only hearing the unnatural crunching sound. Maybe it was just a pokemon, or other harmless person, but she had an idea of what it was. She looked around, and saw that both Meowth and James were also awake. They nodded at each other.

The group quickly put away their camping equipment, then began to set up the balloon to get ready to go, trying to be quiet as they did. The very last thing they did was pick up the cage. Pikachu had been curled up sleeping inside. "Pi?" it said as James hoisted it up, giving the cage to Jessie to place inside the balloon. "Pika!" it shouted, seeing what was probably Ash, not too far away. "PIKAPI!" Pikachu shouted.

"Pikachu!" Ash said, running toward them.

"Uh oh, let's move, you guys," Meowth said.

"Right," Jessie and James said. They were already ascending into the air. But it was just a little too late, as Ash jumped up, latching onto the balloon even as they rose. He then tried to pull himself up.

"Hey! Let go!" Jessie said. "Get rid of him, James," Jessie said.

"How?" James said, looking around for something that might be of use.

"Forget it, we'll just shake him off," Jessie said. She started to try.

"Stop it, Jessie!" Meowth said.

"You don't want to shake anything else out!" James said.

Just as they spoke, Ash reached the top and jumped inside with them. "You've all really done it this time!" he said.

"We're going to make better use of your pikachu than you," Jessie said.

"No way!" Ash said. He'd always been one to let his pokemon make their own decisions, but... "Pikachu doesn't want anything to do with you! It wants to keep battling with me! You're terrible to just keep taking it away like that!"

"Boo hoo, cry me a river," Jessie said. "We need Pikachu, and were aren't going to give it up just because you tell us to."

Ash clenched his fists. "You guys," he said. "You're just always like this! Just give me back my Pikachu already!"

"No way," Meowth said.

"We stole it fair and square," James said.

"We've got out own plans. You can just leave," Jessie said, pointing outside the balloon.

Ash peered outside. They weren't up too high yet, but it was definitely too far to just jump down. "How would I leave?!" he said, not that he had any plans of doing so.

"Just go," Jessie said, waving her hand to the side as if to sweep him away.

"Jessie, maybe that's going a little too far," James said.

"Why?!" Jessie demanded. "He has flying pokemon, he'll easily survive, and then be out of hair."

"Yeah," Ash realized. He reached a specific pokeball.

"See?" Jessie said. "Even he knows. Help me scoop him over the edge."

"Go, Noctowl!" Ash said. He had an image in his mind of some of the other times this had happened. He'd just popped their balloon, and sent them flying away. Now he'd do the same. "Hurry, Noctowl! Get this thing down!"

"Hey, you're in here too!" Jessie pointed out.

"Yeah, and I want to get down," Ash said.

"There are other ways to do that, you know," Meowth said.

"Hurry up, Noctowl!" Ash shouted, oblivious to what they were saying. It was too late for the rockets to respond further. Noctowl ripped the meowth balloon open at the side. The whole group started screaming as they plummeted to the ground.

"Hey!" Meowth said as it realized their direction, and pointed where they were going. They'd been camping pretty close to Entralink. Now it looked like they'd gotten very close, and would cross the moat before they hit the ground. It tried to reach for its gas mask, but instead ended up bracing itself for impact along with the rest of them.

* * *

James blinked his eyes. He wasn't sure if he'd been knocked out, or just dazed for a moment. In any case, they were right by the water, part of deflated top had blown into the water. James sat up immediately, and began to try and drag it out. They'd probably need to repair it to get off this weird island-like place.

"James! Hey!"

James looked up and across the water this time. "Jessie?" he said.

"What are you doing over there, James?" Jessie said.

"I don't know," James said. He scratched his head. Shouldn't she be over here, too? "You know, we just-"

"Forget about it, just get over here, James!" Jessie said.

"Okay, I'll get this fixed," James said.

"No! Right now!" Jessie insisted.

"But Jessie-"

"Hurry up!" Jessie ordered irritably. "I need you," she added.

"Jessie?" James called. "Are you alright?" He looked at her, and she fell to the ground. "Jessie!" he called. He began to wade into the water. "Jessie! Can you answer me?" he said. She didn't, so he took another step into the water.

* * *

Jessie opened her eyes. She heard a gentle voice calling her. "Jessie. Jessie."

Looking to the side, she saw James laying next to her. "What are you doing?" she muttered. James shrugged back at her, just smiling and looking at her. He reached his hand toward her, and ran it down the side of her face. "What are you doing, James?!" she demanded.

"Sorry," James said, pulling away. "I didn't mean to upset you. I was just hoping you were alright." James looked at her with a hurt, pitiful expression. Jessie clenched her jaw. She didn't go for that kind of childish reaction, she really didn't.

"You really look pretty today, Jessie," James said. He got over it soon enough, Jessie observed. She blushed again at the statement, then looked away. He'd rarely said anything like that to her before. She probably didn't really look that great after sleeping outside and then crashing like that.

James touched her face again, guiding her gaze back to him. He smiled as his eyes met her's. "You always look pretty," he said, as if reading her mind.

"What's with this all of a sudden, James?" Jessie said.

"I don't know," James said. "I just really like you, Jessie."

"Yeah," Jessie said. She wished she could concentrate on this, but something else was distracting her. "Now's not the time, James. Let's talk about this later. We need to find Pikachu and get started."

"But Jessie," James whined, though it seemed it wasn't quite enough to be irritating to her at the moment. "That can wait, can't it? Let's take just a quick break."

"James-" Jessie began.

"Let's go swimming! The water's nice!" James said. He grabbed her hand, and Jessie smiled despite herself. "Please," James said, begging her with a puppy-eyed expression.

"Alright," Jessie hesitantly agreed. Just a little break would be alright, even if it would be a pain to dry her clothing later. Where was Meowth, anyway? When it found them, they could get back on task.

James led her to the water. She took off her boots and started to wade into the water. "It's a little chilly," she said. What were they even doing? This was a stupid idea anyway, she thought. "Let's forget about this."

"You have to get all the way in," James said, pulling her ahead.

"I don't really want to, James," Jessie said.

"Come on, Jessie," James squeezed her hand, and pulled her gently forward. Jessie relaxed a little, and continued to go deep into the water. Once she was knee deep, she felt a sudden pressure. Looking at her arm, it was covered with red claws. A tall, ugly looking pokemon had grabbed it. Jessie screamed, and attempted to pull away. The pokemon wouldn't let go.

"Miss! Allow my pokemon to assist you. You're in danger over there."

Jessie looked behind the pokemon and back to the shore. There was an old guy, two munna floating above his head. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "James?" Jessie called, looking toward him.

"Jessie! Hurry, let's get away!" James said, motioning her to the deeper water.

"Munna," the old man said, pointing forward.

The munna's eyes started to glow, and Jessie's did as well. She calmed, then blinked and looked around. "James?" she said.

"Jessie!" James said. He was standing by the old man, and then ran toward her, splashing into the water. Jessie ran toward him as the pokemon finally let go of her. He hugged her. "Jessie! I was so worried about you," he said, teary-eyed.

"The munna were showing him some disturbing images of you," the old man said.

"Oh," Jessie said. She felt a little awkward, realizing that the James she'd seen had just been an illusion. The real James seemed a little more like himself. How he was sobbing in an unsightly way, and continuing to hug her though he was soaking wet. It was very uncomfortable. "Stop it, James," Jessie muttered, and James pulled away from her.

"Both of you, get over here, now," the old man said.

Uh oh, Jessie and James both realized. This wasn't just some kind old man. He was pretty angry with them. For the moment, they both complied, going to shore.

"Team Rocket," Ash said hatefully as he saw them both.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed, again sitting on his shoulder. Meowth was also nearby, looking at them, realizing they'd been caught.

"That's enough! You all listen carefully to me," the old man said.

"Just who are you, anyway?" Jessie asked.

"I'm Drayden, the mayor of a town to the north of here."

"Not a police officer after all," Jessie muttered.

"That's enough. I could and should report you three to authorities and turn you over," Drayden said. Jessie and James were silent, seeing the tall dragon beside him. They realized with a pokemon like that, they might lose in a fight, so he could make it.

"Yeah," Ash agreed.

"That's including you," Drayden said.

"Hey!" Ash said. "I was just-"

"You be quiet as well. I still haven't decided my response. I understand you're all from Kanto. So you might not understand that it's imperative that you stay away from here. Understand? We MUST not be here."

"Then why are you here?" Jessie asked calmly.

"Investigating a certain report," Drayden said.

"That crazy dream mist lady ratted us out, I bet," Jessie muttered to James. He nodded.

"Now, you all will accompany me back to town. You will not go here again. Do you all understand?" Drayden glowered at them, his demeanor demanded a response.

"Yeah," Ash said, looking to the ground with remorse. "Sorry, Drayden. I won't come here again."

Drayden nodded, satisfied with his response, then turned to Jessie and James. They stood up straighter as his piercing gaze met them.

"Yeah, we won't either," James said.

"No way," Jessie said. "Especially if someone like you's going to be here to meet us," she added in a mutter.

Drayden was less satisfied with their response, but still nodded. "Good. Now we'll leave."

"What, swim across? Or is there a bridge somewhere?" Jessie said.

"By flying pokemon. You can't swim, there are pokemon that will attack you for being near Entralink. That's what the munna were thinking by leading you into the water," Drayden explained.

"Oh," Jessie said, paling at the thought.

"What about our balloon?" James said.

"Leave it," Drayden ordered.

Sulkily and silently, the rockets agreed. As Drayden had them take turns crossing out of Entralink with his flying pokemon, they all realized the same thing. Without transportation or Pikachu, they were back to square one.


	6. Moving On

_Author's Note_  
_Bumping this story up from a K+ rating to T with this chapter. Nothing big in my opinion, just noting in case anyone would mind._

**6**  
**Moving On**

"It's about time we got a break," Meowth said as it, Jessie, and James walked into the city together. It paused and took a deep breath, then sighed out, enjoying the nice scenery in the well-landscaped, stone-paved area.

"Is this really a break?" Jessie said. They'd lost everything, and now they had to do some more drudge-work on top of that.

"Yeah! We found a job that pays more than average, and found it easily!" Meowth said. "Now no complaining!"

"But it was that one overpowered twerp... Iris, she knows we're thieves, and still hired us," James said. "Do you think she just forgot us?"

"Who cares? We got the job, and as soon as we get some money we can buy some supplies we need," Meowth said.

"I guess you're right, Meowth," Jessie said. "Where is this place she wanted us to go, anyway?"

"It's the pokemon gym of the town," James said.

"Yeah, shouldn't be too hard to find. These guys should know where it is," Meowth said, motioning toward the pokemon center. They all walked in, and took a look around. It seemed different from other pokemon centers somehow, Meowth noted, seeing perfectly clean marble floors.

"Hey, who's that?" James asked, pointing to a picture on the wall.

"He does look familiar," Jessie said.

Meowth hopped onto James's head and took a look. "Hey! It's that one guy!" it said.

"What guy?" Jessie said.

"You know, the one that dragged us out of Entralink," Meowth said.

"Ah!" Jessie and James both said at once. He was younger in the picture, but it was certainly Drayden.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" the nurse said, approaching the group.

"Why's this guy's picture up here?" Jessie said, pointing to it.

"Oh, Drayden? I can tell you two aren't from around here," the nurse said.

"But he is?" Meowth said.

"Yes, of course. He's been around here since as long as I can remember. He's our mayor. Not only that, but our gym leader! Mayor Drayden's very dedicated to pokemon training, and he's donated a lot to our pokemon center. That's why we've kept his picture up, just as a small thank you."

"But wasn't that one girl the gym leader?" James asked.

"Oh, that's right," the nurse said. "I'd forgotten about that. Yes, Iris is now officially the gym leader, I believe. Anyway, was there something I could do for you?"

"We're looking for the gym," Meowth said.

James sighed after they'd gotten directions and left, rounding the corner to where the gym was. "This is a terrible idea!" he whined.

"No way, look at this place," Meowth said, pointing ahead to the gym with the dual dragon statue heads framing it. They're loaded, so they'll be sure to pay us."

"James has a point, Meowth," Jessie said. "With both that little girl and that old man around, there will probably be trouble. They could both be onto us."

"We'll just have to be sure not to start anything until we're good and far away, then. While we're here, we'll be perfect little angels," Meowth said. "Now no more complaining. Let's over there and get to work."

Though they dragged their feet, Jessie and James said nothing else, and just walked over to the daunting building. James knocked on the door. "Shouldn't we be able to just walk in if it's a gym?" Jessie pointed out.

"Oh, I guess so," James said.

As the door creaked open, an unfamiliar trainer was already there to greet them. "Hey! I'm sorry, but we're closed for now."

"We're here for the job," Jessie said.

"Oh... Oh, yeah, you do fit the description," the trainer said. "My name's Tom, it's nice to meet you."

"Jessie."

"James."

"And Meowth, that's me!" Meowth said as they finished introducing themselves.

Tom laughed nervously at the talking pokemon, then just ignored it. "Oh... Well, I know what to do with you," he said. He motioned for them to come outside. "You don't have a place to stay while you're here, do you?" he said.

"No," James said.

"Drayden said you all could stay where the visiting trainers do. It's out back, follow me." Tom motioned toward them.

They walked around the building and down a path. "Did you say Drayden?" Jessie said.

"Well, yeah," Tom said.

"Is he still the gym leader, or what?" Jessie asked.

"Well, Iris is the leader now, but it's still Drayden's gym. He oversees everything. And even a hundred years from now, no matter how many leaders it has, I bet it'll still be Drayden's gym. He designed, built it, and was our leader for so many years. We won't just up and forget him."

"So why the new leader then?" Meowth asked.

"Drayden's just testing Iris's abilities. Don't think there's been any loss in level at our gym. Iris has pretty much passed Drayden's test. She's as good a trainer as he is," Tom explained.

"Hm?" Jessie said, raising an eyebrow. "You're saying some twerpy new trainer can match a seasoned gym leader like him?"

"Well, it's true," Tom said. "And she isn't that new to it, she's been training with Drayden for several years now. She's surpassed everyone's expectations. Well, here we are." Tom opened the door to a nice-looking house. "You all can stay here," he said.

Inside, it had the exact same fancy stone floor as the pokemon center had. Again, the place was spotless. There was a small kitchen. James opened the door to the refrigerator and saw it was full of food. Jessie walked past the living area to the bedroom. A painting of Reshiram and Zekrom in a fancy frame was above the large bed, and fresh flowers were on the nightstand. She raised an eyebrow and walked out. Meowth jumped on the leather couch. "Nice," it said.

"This Drayden guy's going all out just for some hired help, huh?" Jessie commented.

"Not any more than for anyone else," Tom said. "Drayden has several guest houses just like this behind his house."

"His house?" James said. He looked out the window. Through the garden, there was another building across the way. Getting close, he saw it was a mansion-like stone building. The shadow crept close to them, as if it was saying that it was watching them. "Ah!" James took a step back, looking away from the imposing building.

"Yeah, that places looks impressive," Meowth commented.

"Right," Tom said. "By the way, there is only one bedroom... I made sure this was ready for two, but I didn't realize you were a man and a woman. Is that going to be a problem?"

Jessie felt momentarily embarrassed at the question, but she just rolled her eyes. She and James always shared a close space like this. Usually even closer. It was never, ever, an issue at all. "It's fine," she said.

"Oh, of course! I should have realized you two were together," Tom said.

They weren't, but there was no reason to explain, Jessie thought to herself. They were often mistaken as a couple, being a man and woman traveling together. The first time it had happened, Jessie had been sure to loudly correct the person who'd made that mistake right away. But by now, even with the recent weird feelings she'd had toward him, it was still no big deal. She'd decided to react to it the same as James did, with no reaction at all.

But looking at James, Jessie saw he was now fidgeting, an awkward smile on his face. As soon as Jessie's eyes met his, he then looked away, still with the weird expression. Did he have a some kind of reaction to that after all, Jessie wondered? She suddenly felt a little weird herself, and pressed her hands together, mirroring James's fidgeting.

Meowth noticed the change in demeanor in its two friends and sighed to itself. Talking to James about what had been going on definitely hadn't been the best choice. But it was too late to worry about it now, so he'd just try to snap them out of it. "Hey! You've got some work you want us to do now, right?" it asked Tom.

"Right!" Tom said, nodding. "Everything's behind since both Drayden and Iris have been gone so much. So, let's get to work."

* * *

As they'd finished the day's work, Jessie sat back and sighed on the couch. She saw James and Meowth in the kitchen, already making the most of what had been provided for them. She closed her eyes, promising herself she'd be doing the same soon, finding someone to eat for herself. Jessie just wanted a few minutes to rest first though.

She was jostled around as James sat down next to her, and Meowth on the other side. The pokemon turned on the TV, then turned up the volume. "Hey, keep it down," Jessie muttered.

"Jessie."

"What?" Jessie said, irritated even at James's soft voice calling her.

"Here, I've made you something," James said.

Jessie looked down at the plate. She'd seen and smelled that some cooking at been going on in the kitchen, and it seemed James had bothered to make something for her. "Oh, thanks," Jessie said. She sat up and started eating, zoning out as she watched the animations of the giant black and white pokemon on TV and listened to the announcer drone on.

"It's an exciting time to be in Unova!" the announcer said. "The legendary Reshiram and Zekrom have been spotted all over the region! There's another confirmed sighting, this time of Reshiram, nearby Icirrus City."

"Wonder what they'd be up to, flying all over like that," Meowth said.

"Just making it easier for us to catch them," Jessie said.

"Right! We'll catch them easily along with Pikachu, won't we Jessie?" James said.

"Without a doubt," Jessie said. She wasn't that eager to try and consider how, and began to doze off. She felt something brushing her face. "Mm?" Jessie opened her eyes. There James was next to her, holding out a plate.

"Don't forget dessert!" James said.

Jessie took a look. It was one of her favorite cakes. Not that he was giving to it to her because he remember something that trivial.

"You really like this kind, don't you?" James said.

"Yeah," Jessie said. She finished it off, and looked at the TV, though she just couldn't get as engrossed in it as Meowth was getting. She looked over at James. He was looking back at her.

"Are you alright, Jessie?" James asked.

"Just fine," Jessie said.

"That's good," James said. He reached toward her, touching her face. Jessie moved back, looking at him questioningly. "Just some frosting," he said, smiling.

"Yeah," Jessie said. She relaxed, then moved closer to him. This was the real James, not the one from her visions in Entralink. But it would be really nice to have someone to do those kind of things with, and Jessie was physically close to him right in that moment. She felt relaxed, almost like James was really that person from her munna-influenced dreams. Jessie reached over and ran her fingers through James's hair. She put her arm around him, cuddled close to him, then closed her eyes, finally resting.

"Jessie?"

"Yes, James?" Jessie said, still with her eyes closed.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Opening her eyes and looking at James, Jessie saw his expression was nothing but confusion now. She clenched her jaw in annoyance, then stood up. "Nothing's wrong at all," she said. Yes, this was the real James, who probably didn't want to do anything even remotely intimate with her. "Just be sure not to walk in on me while I'm taking a shower."

"I wonder if she's really feeling alright," James said to Meowth worriedly as Jessie left.

"She's fine," Meowth said.

"She is?" James said. He thought back on the situation. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh, no way," Meowth said. "You sure have me convinced that you'd be the perfect wife for Jessie."

"Th-that's not what I was trying to do at all!" James insisted.

"Really? Then what?" Meowth said. It really was confused at James's motivations here.

"I just-" James paused. It didn't really seem all that out of the ordinary for him, but maybe it was. Why did Meowth have to jump right to marriage though? He wasn't interested in marriage at all, not to anyone. He just wanted to enjoy being around her.

"You going courting or what, Jimmy?" Meowth asked.

"Maybe something like that," James admitted. He had been taken by the idea of a romance that might appeal to him developing, though he didn't take the time to think about it deeply. He'd just gotten happy whenever anything that might remotely point to that had happened. He wouldn't let himself get too excited though.

"Then next time, maybe don't brush her off once she's getting cozy with you," Meowth suggested.

Had that been what was happening, James wondered? He'd just thought Jessie had felt sick or something. Thinking about it with Meowth's point of view in mind, he realized that Jessie had been getting 'cozy' with him after all. He blushed, then felt a sense of elated contentment, thinking he might be able to easily make up how he'd acted, as well as what might happen after then.

Meowth sighed. There James went again, getting that dreamy look in his eyes. Meowth didn't really like this turn of events, but wasn't going to try to mess it up or anything. They'd be perfectly capable of that themselves, it was sure.

* * *

The next day, Jessie, James, and Meowth stepped outside, ready to start their work. Jessie narrowed her eyes as she looked at the imposing mansion in front of them. "You know, I don't think that old guy's around," she pointed out.

"That's what the trainer yesterday was saying," Meowth said.

"That overpowered twerp is gone too, isn't she?" James said.

"Hm," Jessie said, a smirk coming across her face. "Why keep breaking our backs with something like this?" she said. "This guy's sickeningly rich. Even if he doesn't have money just laying around, he's bound to have something valuable in there."

Meowth nodded. "I get what you're saying, Jessie. We should work smarter, not harder. We could earn more by stealing from him than working for him."

"Then we'll get all the supplies we need for catching those legendary pokemon," James said.

The group looked at each other and nodded. James giggled. They scanned around the perimeter. No one could be seen around there. "That Tom guy won't be looking for us for a while, right?" Jessie said.

"Right, so we'll just be out of here before then," Meowth said.

"Right," James said. "I wonder if he even keeps the door locked."

"That's right. Everyone here acts like his best friend or worshipper, maybe he doesn't think anyone would steal from him at all," Jessie said.

"Let's find out," Meowth said.

They snuck around the building and to the front door, being sure no one might be around in the early hours. "Let's go," Jessie said. James nodded, and reached his hand toward the door. It swung open before he touched it. The group jumped back.

Drayden stepped out. He flexed his muscles as he looked at them, from their point of view, glaring as he looked at them. "Oh, you two," he said. "Iris told me she'd hired someone down on their luck from far out of the region. I might have guessed it was you."

Jessie, James, and Meowth were all nervous, even as Drayden spoke to them casually. It seemed like he'd been watching them all along, ready to jump the moment they'd done anything wrong. They were all at a loss for words, unsure how to react when being caught like this.

"Well, it's good to see that you're dedicated to the job with this early start," Drayden said. "But there's no need for you here. Get over to the gym. There should be someone there to instruct you."

The three nodded, and then ran off. "That guy's creepy," Jessie said.

"He might have been watching all along!" James said.

"What did I tell you two? No starting any trouble in this town!" Meowth said.

"Then next time, don't act like it's such a good idea yourself," Jessie snapped.

"It's not, okay? Let's just finish up this temp work and get out of here!" Meowth said.

* * *

For the next few days, Jessie, James, and Meowth all worked hard at their new job, trying their best to clean as much as they could as fast as they could to be done with it and be released. But as soon as they finished, Drayden and then Iris had another long project for them.

Yes, Iris had returned soon enough. They didn't feel any more comfortable in front of her as compared to Drayden, though she had a completely different demeanor. Iris smiled at them and spoke with them jovially, and never mentioned how they'd tried to steal her friend's pokemon not so long ago. Did she recognize them at all? Jessie, James, and Meowth had considered that together, and still couldn't decide.

Now, they had the daunting task of cleaning the massive Opelucid Gym. "This place is dangerous enough without having to clean every inch of it," Jessie commented, looking up at the high platforms. James and Meowth both nodded. They decided to stick to the bottom floor as long as Iris didn't instruct them otherwise.

She was right there in the gym, also participating in the cleaning efforts. "Hey! Looking nice, there!" she shouted. Apparently Iris had been watching them, though the rockets couldn't be sure from where. They remained on their best behavior, though this was all getting pretty tedious.

Iris eventually came right up to them, rolling a cart. "Good, you guys are hard at work. Let's switch out. You take the new buckets," she said.

"Right, right," Jessie muttered. Iris was nothing but pleasant to them, but it was still stressful, with either her or Drayden looking over their shoulders. She turned around, then saw the kid who was standing next to Iris.

"You!" the rockets and Ash both said at once, pointing at each other.

"Team Rocket," Ash said, shaking his head. He turned to Iris. "What are these guys doing here?" he demanded.

"Why shouldn't they be here?" Iris asked. So, apparently they hadn't been recognized, but they probably soon would be.

"They're bad guys! They just keep trying to steal my pokemon, and do steal them, all the time!" Ash said.

"Hey now," Jessie began. They might still be able to recover from this accusation. "We're not doing anything bad!"

"That's right!" Meowth said.

"We're just working here," James said. He quickly started cleaning to help exemplify that.

"See? We're just trying to earn an honest living! We're giving up all of that other stuff!" Jessie said.

"Oh," Ash said, suddenly calm. He looked at Iris questioningly, then back at the rockets, who started switching out the buckets as Iris had suggested, then cleaning vigorously. Ash scratched his head, looking a little puzzled, then just shrugged. "Okay."

"Pika," Pikachu sighed to itself.

Meowth smirked. Pikachu didn't believe them for a second, but the twerp was a pushover. Spying a glance at Iris, it was easy to see that she was buying the story, too. Her expression was as contented as it had been for the past few days. "Wow, I didn't know you guys had such a rocky past. Well, keep up the good work!" she said.

The group nodded, and then turned around and kept scrubbing with intense concentration. As Iris and Ash walked away from them and went out the door of the gym with the dirty buckets, they sighed in relief. "That was close," Meowth said. It stood up and glared at Jessie and James. "We've gotta keep up this reformed act while we're here!" it said in a low voice.

"We know that, Meowth," Jessie said. James nodded. Right now, they didn't really know their situation fully. They could be trapped, with someone waiting for them to make a wrong move. Knowing there were other trainers around that could watch and listen to them, they silently kept at their job.

Later in the day, Iris called for them. "Hey, can you two do the cooking?" she asked. "We can bring out the steaks. I really want to thank everyone that stuck around to help!"

"We have to do that kind of thing, too?" Jessie complained.

"Come on Jessie, I'm hungry!" James said.

"Me too, let's just do it," Meowth said.

"Fine," Jessie agreed, though she didn't like it. They all went into Drayden's big house. While Iris sat around with the trainers and idled, they cooked, then served everyone before finally sitting down themselves. Ash was sitting right by the empty spaces which had been saved for the rockets.

"Pikachu's right there... We should just grab it," Jessie said.

"With all these trainers around, and the old guy lurking around who knows where? We're not gonna do that!" Meowth said.

"Right, that's what we decided on, Jessie," James said.

"I know," Jessie said. "But it's just right there, it would be so easy to just grab. Then we'd be back where we were when it comes to our goals." Jessie glared toward the Pikachu, who was sitting on the floor nearby Ash, nibbling on an apple. James also looked at Pikachu. They both were tempted.

Meowth bounced off James's shoulder and onto Jessie's, trying to snap them out of it. "We'd also be broke and hungry. Let's just eat," Meowth said.

Jessie and James nodded, then sat down in front of the nice meal they'd prepared.

Iris stopped feasting on her food, and spied over at Jessie and James. She smiled as they noticed she was looking at them. "So, you guys are from Kanto too, huh?"

"Yeah," Jessie confirmed.

"Wow! That's so far away. And you were career criminals?" Iris said, with an innocent tone of voice and smile even with this kind of question.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"It means they basically commit crimes for a living," Iris said.

"Yeah, that's Team Rocket, alright!" Ash confirmed. "All they do is stuff like that. They steal pokemon from trainers, and even terrorize pokemon in the wild! They captured these awesome wild pokemon, these lugia, and nothing could stop them, it was awful."

"Wow," Iris said, nodding. "That does sound awful." She now frowned, appearing concerned as she glanced over to Jessie and James. Some of the other trainers at the table were starting to glance toward them warily as well.

"Yes, but that was a long time ago," Jessie said nervously.

"We're completely reformed now!" James affirmed.

"Pika," Pikachu muttered, recalling it was barely a week ago that they had stolen it last.

"That's great!" Ash said. "Good luck you guys, I really mean it."

"Yeah, thanks," Jessie said tersely.

"Hey, you know," Ash began, looking toward Iris. "Jessie and James, I mean these guys, they were never so bad, I guess." Ash paused, frowning, then forced a smile. "I'd get so mad when they took my pokemon, but I'd always get them back. I guess you finally learned your lesson after we got stuck on that weird island, huh?"

"Exactly," Meowth said, cutting in. It could tell that both Jessie and James were getting irritated at what Ash said from their expressions, and wanted to stop them from saying the motto then snatching Pikachu away or something.

"Yeah, don't worry about them. It wasn't these guys, it was always some other rockets doing the really bad stuff. The other rockets are the one that were really terrible." Ash said.

"That'll be us, soon," Jessie said, closing her eyes as she cut into her meat.

"Huh?" Ash said, turning toward them.

"So," Iris said, interrupting them before the conversation went any further. "What other bad things had your 'Team Rocket' done?"

Ash began talking, going over the recent crimes, many of which were committed by Cassidy and Butch. Jessie frowned, hating to have to hear about her rival getting all the credit. James had a similarly gloomy expression, but just slumped over in his seat, having stopped eating. Jessie poked him in the ribs, trying to signal to him to hide his emotions better.

On the other hand, Iris listened thoughtfully. "Wow, that's all really terrible stuff," she said once it seemed Ash had finished. "It's good you guys got away from all that." She looked at the rockets and waited for a reaction. When Jessie nodded at her, Iris continued. "Especially before you got to Unova. Because, you know, you'd never, ever get away with that kind of stuff here." She paused, staring at the rockets. "Nope. Not ever."

Before Iris put back on her normal pleasant mask, she glared at them for a second, almost in a predatory manner. Then she grinned again, and began to speak to the trainer next to her.

"That kid's creepy," Jessie whispered. She was just as creepy as the old man, Jessie concluded.

"Yeah," James in a murmur.

Once they had finished and cleaned up as per Iris's instructions, they went back to the guest house and continued the conversation. "I think she was fishing for information," Meowth said. "Those two gym leaders, they know exactly what they were doing, inviting us here."

"Do you think she really meant to warn us then, too?" James said.

"Exactly. We can't make one wrong step," Meowth said. "So let's just get our cash, then get out of here."

"Right," Jessie said. When morning came, they'd do just that.

* * *

The next morning, they went and knocked on the door to the Drayden's mansion. Iris creaked the door open. "Oh," she said. "I thought you might have been my challenger. Come on in, I guess. I'll find something for you to do."

"You caught up with everything you needed us for, right? So aren't we done already?" Jessie said. "So hurry up, pay us so we can leave this town."

"Oh, sorry, Drayden's the one that does that," Iris said. "I don't know when he'll be back. Soon, I think."

"Soon as in today or as in a few weeks?" Jessie said.

"I'm not sure," Iris said. "But he'll be back soon!"

"Hey, kid, you listen here-" Jessie said, standing imposingly in front of her.

"Jess, come on, this ain't gonna help," Meowth said.

"I really don't care right now, Meowth, I'm sick of being around here!" Jessie said. She began arguing with Meowth as James stood by.

"Your sister has anger problems, huh?" Iris said.

"Oh- she's not my sister," James said, refusing to respond to the other half of the question, especially as Jessie and Meowth discussed something nearby in a low voice.

"Then what?" Iris asked. "Not your girlfriend or anything, I know that much."

James was startled. Usually it was the opposite, people would think she was. Then he'd wonder why they'd assume something like that. He'd be puzzled, but now that he had met someone who'd thought it over and figured out it wasn't true, he had another question. "Why not?"

"Well, you're gay, right?" Iris said.

James was taken back by the girl's very directness. "No," he said.

"Really? I guess I can't tell that well yet, huh?" Iris said with a shrug. "I could tell you were close, so I thought she might be your sister or something."

"We are close," James confirmed.

"But she's not your girlfriend yet?" Iris said.

"No," James confirmed. In the past, he'd say they were close without that aspect, but now he was kind of confused about it all. Nothing had really changed, but their relationship had become complex just by him thinking about it in a different light. "It's a little complicated."

"There's nothing complicated about love," Iris lectured. "Especially if you're a guy who likes a girl. So just go for it if you like her, okay?"

"Okay," James said, suddenly feeling embarrassed. What was he doing, having this kind of conversation with this kid, anyway? As he saw Jessie and Meowth walking back up to them, both calmed, he quickly changed the subject. "Can you call Drayden and ask when he'll be back, then?" James said.

"Yeah, sure, maybe," Iris said. She stood up. "I'm just super busy now. I've got to go meet my challenger! I know, you guys can keep busy by cleaning up after us."

"That's not what we're worried about!" Jessie snapped.

Iris completely ignored her. "Look!" she said, pointing to the TV. "They've got footage of Reshiram now. They've been showing it all morning."

The rockets did look. The announcer spoke about Reshiram and the sightings throughout Unova as the flash went across the footage in the background. "Is that really Reshiram? Or just some really bright light?" Meowth said.

Iris laughed. "Really, huh? They didn't see Reshiram near as closely as I did. And I couldn't talk about it as much as I wanted to in my interview. It's top secret, you know!"

The rockets turned to her. "What do you mean, top secret?" Meowth asked.

"Oh, well, my interview's coming on, it should cycle back in another..." Iris looked at the time. "Wait! I can't just wait around, I've got to get to the gym. I bet my challenger is waiting for me. I can't wait to battle with him. You all can come with me!" Iris switched off the TV, grabbed her pokeballs, and then ushered them out the front door.

"So, what did you see?" James asked her as they walked together.

"It must have been something really big if you have to keep it a secret," Jessie added.

"Well, oh, it's complicated to why they want it to be a secret," Iris said as she took big steps to her gym. "But it's really not that big a deal. We just don't want other people to make it a big deal, you know?"

"So, you can tell us, can't you?" Jessie said.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Iris said. "I saw Reshiram at the top of Dragonspiral tower!"

"Oh, that's..." James paused, thinking of the guides and maps he'd read. "That's in a town a little west of here, right?"

"Yup," Iris said.

"So they don't want people climbing up there and disturbing it?" Jessie said.

"No. Reshiram flew away by now. It really is traveling Unova," Iris said.

"You're sure?" Jessie said. She knew that James and Meowth were likely thinking the same thing, that they should climb that damn tower with Pikachu.

"Yeah," Iris said. "Reshiram flew away as soon as I saw it. That was a while ago."

"Oh," Jessie said. She should have known this information was too good to be true.

"So you saw it up close?" James asked.

"Yes! No doubt it was Reshiram!" Iris said. She grinned, appearing pleased that the group gave her so much attention for her story. "And you know what? People are thinking about why Reshiram and Zekrom are around again, but I already know why!" she said.

There was a pause. "So, why do you think?" Meowth goaded her to say more.

"Their heroes died a long time ago, so they're gonna find new heroes!" Iris said.

"What then?" Meowth asked.

"Oh, you know," Iris said with a shrug. "The pokemon of legend go right along with their heroes. So they just want some new heroes to hang out with, I guess."

Her understanding was pretty juvenile, Jessie thought. But Jessie herself could easily guess why they might want new heroes. To have a human to train them to rule Unova, and then the world, of course. They'd fit right in with Team Rocket.

That's right, Jessie considered, Zekrom and Reshiram constantly fought in all of their stories. They struggled for control against each other. If she caught the both of them, or if they wanted separate heroes, her and James became one for each, they could get all of the control, then upset the region's balance of power in Team Rocket's favor. It would be easy, and they'd absolutely get their speedy success.

In a better mood, Jessie entered the gym with the group. Ash was there waiting, after all. She and James lagged back as Iris and Ash enthusiastically greeted each other, going through whatever their pre-battle ritual was. The rockets sat on a nearby platform, watching unenthusiastically from afar. Jessie grinned and looked over at James. "I think we have an opening," she said.

"Right," James nodded.

"I'm gonna go look up more about that tower," Meowth said.

Jessie nodded. She and James would both stay. Both Iris and Drayden seemed to pay Meowth little mind. They probably wouldn't even notice it was missing. The two of them on the other hand, these gym leaders were very suspicious of. So, Jessie concluded, they'd just stay and play the goody-goods until they finally got paid.

So there was nothing left to do but wait. And now, Jessie was waiting alone with James. She just sat there, zoning out as she mindlessly watched what she could see of the gym battle on the other side of the gym. James suddenly turned to her. "Jessie, I'm sorry," he said.

"Hm?" Jessie said. "For what?"

"I mean, the other day, I..." James paused. He couldn't think of what he was saying sorry for. Upsetting Jessie, though she hadn't even directly said that he had. But he still wanted to apologize. "Well, I guess I didn't understand what you wanted."

"Oh," Jessie said. She'd really done something embarrassing, hadn't she? And James, usually oblivious, had actually noticed somehow. "You didn't do anything wrong, James. And I'm fine, so there's no reason to say you're sorry at all."

"You did get upset though," James said.

"It's no big deal," Jessie said. "I guess I was just a little confused. I didn't know what I wanted, either. You understand, don't you?"

"No," James said.

Of course not, Jessie considered. She scowled. James didn't know what it was like to have an empty desire like this, or any desire at all. She wanted someone who also wanted her, so her crush on him was pretty futile.

"It's not like you to say that either, Jessie," James said. "We both have a clear idea of what we want!"

Jessie turned to him and smiled again. "Yeah, you're right," Jessie said. It was good to get off the topic of her weirdness and back to why they'd really traveled all the way to Unova. "We'll reach our success in Team Rocket soon, won't we?"

"Together," James added, grabbing onto Jessie's hands. He felt his face heat up, and looked away. Then he forced himself to look back at Jessie, who also appeared a little flustered. "I want to reach success when you're with me, Jessie!" he said.

"James," Jessie replied, but was at a loss for words beyond that. She'd never guessed he would say something like that to her. But it was just that she was misunderstanding him, she shouldn't interpret what he said a certain way because she wanted to.

James recalled what Meowth had said. He shouldn't rebuff the physical affection if he really did want her. And he did. His words were toned down from how he really felt, and had for a long time. He couldn't even imagine a happy success without Jessie there with him. He didn't think of her as a co-worker anymore, but just someone he loved and didn't want to be separated from, ever. And for that, he should give her what she wanted. He slowly leaned closer to her.

Jessie saw James moving closer as if to kiss her. This was also something she was mistaking, wasn't it? It was something that she really wanted, though. Despite herself, Jessie closed her eyes. James indeed kissed her softly. She opened her eyes, and before she could think she imagined it, James turned away, looking awkward. But it was something he'd actually done, on his own whim.

So, he really did understand her feelings. On top of that, he actually did feel the same. Jessie pulled him closer, taking the lead this time and kissed him herself. She did so several times, feeling liberated in letting her desires free, then stopped. Iris and Ash's shouts echoed around the gym, reminding her of where she was. But Jessie still leaned against James, feeling contented and blissful in this new realization.

There was nothing left to say. James also felt similarly to Jessie, happy to have his feelings returned. He put her arm around her, contented to have Jessie so close. Physical contact between them had always seemed natural. It had even been nice to kiss her. That was something that had always felt unnatural to James, this romantic kissing. Even with Jessie, it hadn't felt like a natural 'urge', but it had still been pleasant. He'd really enjoyed it.

* * *

Meowth laid out the copies it had made in the library over the table in the guest house. "There's not much to say about this place for how famous it is," it said.

"Did you find out anything that could help us?" Jessie asked.

"Not really, except its layout, if we wanna go there," Meowth said. "It's just some old building. Pretty sturdy for how long it's been around."

"How long's that?" James asked, studying the black-and-white photocopy of the building.

"No one knows. It was old back in the war they keep talking about. Even older than Unova, one guy told me," Meowth said.

"From before this region was called Unova?" James said.

Meowth shrugged. "It seems like a good spot to go for dragon pokemon, though. Should we just go look at it afterward?"

"After we capture Pikachu, right?" James said.

Jessie slowly nodded at what her teammates were saying as she leafed through the information that Meowth had gathered.. She was thinking about it deeply. Something was familiar about that tower. Not in a nostalgic way, she just thought she'd heard of it before, maybe seen it before, and recently. But they'd skipped through that town on their way over to Opelucid.

Jessie took a look at the picture, then realized it. "Wait," she said. She grabbed the piece of paper, then went into the bedroom. James and Meowth followed. "Look at that," she said, pointing over at the painting above the bed.

"I don't know why he choose that. It's up in the pokemon center, too. But there are much better paintings of those two we've seen around, aren't there?" James said.

"Yeah," Meowth said, not a real art critic. Most paintings weren't displayed at its height, anyway.

"We don't need to comment on his taste," Jessie said. "Look closer at the painting."

As Jessie spoke, she held out the picture. The painting centered on Reshiram and Zekrom, but in the corner was the top of a tower. James looked closely, and Meowth hopped on the bed to get a closer look as well.

"They do look kind of similar," James said.

"That doesn't mean anything though, Jessie, it's just some painting," Meowth pointed out.

"Look closer," Jessie said irritably, pointing at the engraved title. "It's 'Source of Creation', and it's restored. It's some ancient painting, I bet. The tower's the source!"

"I think the pokemon are supposed to be," Meowth said.

"Well, the tower's the source of the pokemon, isn't it?" Jessie said.

"Oh yeah!" Meowth realized. "Most of the stories about those two have mentioned a tower or something where they were created."

"That's what I'm saying!" Jessie said. "If it's any tower that's still standing, it's that one, isn't it?"

"I bet it is that one!" James said.

"So," Meowth said, hopping off the bed. "What we're saying is, this place is worth checking out after all? With what that girl said and now this?"

"Right," Jessie and James both said at once.

"We'll get over there after we get paid. With Pikachu, if we can," Meowth said. Jessie and James both nodded. They went back in the kitchen area to eat and clean up.

At the end of the meal, Jessie turned to Meowth. "Hey, Meowth," she began.

"Yeah?"

"James and I are going to share the bed alone tonight. Don't bother us, okay?"

"Seriously, Jess?" Meowth said. The two had looked very cozy together when it had come back from the library, but that hadn't been the first time. Apparently something had happened during that relatively short time, though.

"Yes, really," Jessie confirmed Meowth's thought. "So just don't bother us, okay?"

"Okay," Meowth agreed. It hadn't interfered with their work yet, so whatever 'thing' was going on between them was okay for now, Meowth supposed. At least it hoped so, Meowth thought as the door closed behind Jessie and James.

* * *

James was surprised at just how comfortable he felt with Jessie as he lay with her in the bed. They were both in a state of partial undress, and it didn't bother him at all. He cuddled close to her as they kissed. He was perfectly fine. It was completely different than when he'd been this close to anyone before. From how he felt, almost like this was the 'love' he'd wished was real his entire life. Thinking this, James felt even more elated as he lay next to her.

Jessie felt similarly. She hadn't been intimate with anyone for a long time. Maybe it was just in the moment, after being alone for so long. No, Jessie affirmed to herself. She'd fallen in love with James because he was himself, not because he was convenient. Though it had been more than convenient that he fell for her as well. She pulled him close and kissed him again.

Sex was on her mind. She wasn't going to do anything like that with him tonight, though. That wasn't that kind of woman was, and any man who thought otherwise was in for a punishment. But James wasn't like that. He wasn't demanding anything from her at all.

"Hey, James?" Jessie said.

"Yes, Jessie?" Jessie replied.

"I really do like this... I really like you."

"I love you, Jessie," James said, and hugged her close.

Jessie blushed. Was that appropriate to say so soon? With how long she'd known James, she decided it was, and how close they'd been even before just now, she decided it was. "I love you too, James," she admitted, though it wasn't something that she'd usually say. It was true, and it was fine for her to say something like that to James. She really did feel closer to him than she'd been to anyone before.

James felt himself drifting off to sleep. When Jessie insisted they'd be alone, he'd had the slightest bit of anxiety about what she might want to do. There was a little bit of relief that she just wanted this kind of contact, and then wanted to sleep.

But he wasn't really that anxious about anything, James told himself. It was just the memory of previous events that led to him having only a slight reaction. He really was comfortable with Jessie. Though he'd hated sex before, and never desired it since or even ever at all, James was sure it would be different with her. Isn't that what he'd been told? Yes, now that he'd fallen in love, he'd feel all those sexual urges, for the one he loved. Even if it hadn't appeared yet, James knew those feelings would develop very soon. It had been a worry before, but he didn't have to worry at all anymore.

* * *

The rockets had woken up early. They were determined to finally catch up with Drayden and make him pay them so they could leave. To their surprise, Drayden was waiting nearby as they stepped outside. He stood with his pokemon in the garden, doing some warm-up exercise. Drayden greeted them as they walked out, and the three dragon pokemon didn't stop their exercise. "Good morning," Drayden said. "I was hoping to meet you two out here."

"Yeah... Well, good," Jessie said. "We've just been idling around here. We really need to get moving."

"I understand your plight. It must be difficult to be so far from home, in an unknown area without needed support," Drayden said. The rockets paused, unsure of what to say. Drayden hadn't been nearly so friendly to them before. "I took into account your situation when considering how to reimburse you. I think you'll find my payment generous," he added, then held out an envelope.

Jessie grabbed it wordlessly, then opened it. "What's this?" she said, though it was obvious what it was, plane tickets back to Kanto. She showed it to James, then passed it down to Meowth.

"I'm not sure why you came here, but I think it would be best for you to go home," Drayden said.

"And you'll make this decision for us all on your own, huh?" Jessie asked.

"We're completely broke! We've been counting on actual cash, you know," Meowth said.

"You'll find some additional bonuses inside," Drayden said.

Meowth took a closer look at everything inside the envelope. There was a little actual cash, so little that they'd be broke again as soon as they got back to Kanto, if not beforehand.

"Sir," James began, not wanting to anger the mayor. "If you could-"

"You know, just forget it," Jessie said. "I'm tired of this region. The old man's right. We just need to go home."

"Jessie!" James exclaimed in dismay.

"There's nothing we can do here. We should leave. You're thinking the same thing, right?" Jessie said. She looked at James's speechless face and just shrugged at him.

"Hey, Jess-" Meowth began.

Jessie snatched the envelope from Meowth's paws. She then turned to Drayden. "Thanks, old man. We appreciate how generous you are and all."

Drayden nodded at the rockets, who walked away. "Maybe we can still cash the tickets in," Meowth said in a low voice when they were far enough away.

"Jessie, why did you say all that?" James whined. "We have a lot left to do here!"

"It's because she realized that old guy's onto us," Meowth said. "He might not be able to figure out exactly what, but he knows we're up to something, and he's not gonna give us anything to really help us. Right, Jessie?"

"Yeah, that's it," Jessie said.

"Oh," James said.

"So we'll use his tickets," Jessie said.

"We might not have to," Meowth said.

Jessie shrugged. "It's probably a good idea. We could make our own supplies, but headquarters would have better ones, right?"

"That's true," Meowth said, though it wasn't sure if they would supply them.

"And then, when the old guy finds out we used his tickets, he'll think we're out of here for good. So when we get back, he won't be in our hair."

"Good idea, Jessie!" James said, nodding happily as he realized that she hadn't meant a word of what she'd said to Drayden before. "We'll get back here right away, won't we?"

"Yeah, maybe the same as we got here the first time. Or maybe we can get the boss to pay for another plane ride back. Either way, we aren't really leaving for good. We'll be right back, and capture both those legendary pokemon before this town's creepy gym leaders even notice," Jessie said.

"Right!" James and Meowth said. Determined with this new goal, they walked forward even more quickly on their way to the airport.


	7. Going Home Again

**7**  
**Going Home Again**

Thinking about going to the rocket base to get supplies was one thing, actually being there was another. A half hour into their experience, and Jessie, James, and Meowth were all in a bad mood. "Now I remember why we didn't go here before we went to Unova in the first place," Jessie muttered as they walked to the main lobby.

James nodded. Everyone familiar who'd seen them had acted surprised that they were even there. Conversations were awkward as even the ones who didn't mock them were just confused to see them at all. Most didn't even recognize them, or asked if they were new. A few even snickered as they saw them, then ignored the group.

"Let's just get what we need and then get," Meowth said.

"Mondo doesn't work with supplies anymore, does he?" James said. Mondo had been promoted a while ago. When he'd first started, he'd been so young, but he was definitely an adult by now. The kid that had been nice to them, always happy to see them, wouldn't be around to greet them. It was kind of sad.

"No, but it'll just be some other kid," Jessie said.

"Yeah, we can deal with some newbie," Meowth said.

"So let's go," Jessie said.

"This really wasn't a great idea, was it Jessie?" James said.

"We can deal with it. I bet I can get some receptionist to buy us our plane ticket back to Unova," Jessie said. "Maybe the boss would approve it if he doesn't see our faces. So, hopefully we won't actually see him."

Or anyone else they know too well, James thought to himself, but didn't say so. He supposed he probably should visit Cassidy while he was in the area, but he really didn't want to. Seeing her was always awkward and left him feeling bad, despite how pleasant she was around him. So hopefully, she just wouldn't be around.

No such luck. The lobby was crowded with various agents, including Cassidy and Butch. Right now there didn't appear to be any organization to the people, the agents just talked amongst themselves while going through various supplies. Just when James thought they might be able to slip down the hall and get their own needed equipment, it became apparent that they'd been noticed right away. Cassidy and Butch walked up to them. "Hey," Cassidy called. "So, you're all back in Kanto?"

"You see us here, don't you?" Jessie said.

"Yeah... So, is it permanent?" Cassidy said.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no. We'll be out of here and going to another region right after this," Jessie said.

"We can't ever expect you to stop running and just stick around, huh?" Butch said.

"What's that?" Jessie said irritably.

"We're not running, we're just scouring the world for powerful pokemon in the name of Team Rocket!" Meowth said.

Cassidy pulled James to the side as their partners argued. "Bad timing for us to visit together, but why don't you go and visit Jonathan yourself anyway?" she said.

Yeah, James thought, feeling guilty as he thought of his son. He really should do things like visit him, James knew. Where was Jonathan, anyway? Cassidy more or less lived here on the rocket base, was he around here as well? "Yeah, I'll do that. Is he-"

"Good," Cassidy said. "I'm not that happy with the home he's in right now. Even giving him a little time away from there would be helpful."

"The... Home?" James repeated.

"Yeah. The foster home he's in. It's not like I'm going to let him live here or something. But I don't really like where he is right now. They don't take care of him properly."

"They don't?" James said. He wasn't sure what to make of this information. On the surface it sounded pretty alarming.

"Not really. I'm trying to get him moved to somewhere else, but I don't want to transfer him someplace worse. He may only have to deal with it a couple more months, anyway. Now that he's old enough, I've gotten him accepted to a really good boarding school. So at the start of the next term, he'll be there instead. Until then, he might have to just deal with it. I'll appreciate any time you can pull him away, though."

James nodded. He supposed visiting was the least he could do, since he didn't do anything else for that kid, anyway. That Cassidy didn't even mention his numerous shortcomings related to this topic only had him feeling guiltier still. He supposed they were so apparent or irreparable that mentioning them wouldn't do any good at all.

But James still agreed to visit the kid, though he wasn't sure if there was any point to that, either. He couldn't provide anything just by visiting, and the kid was afraid of him. When James had seen Jonathan last, a few years ago, he had clung to Cassidy, turning away from James whenever approached, burying his head into Cassidy's hug to avoid looking at him whenever James attempted to speak to him. Their son was a shy kid, Cassidy had explained.

If he was going to be 'shy' again, James wouldn't force him to come along, he thought as Cassidy thanked him and said she'd go call ahead to the 'home' to say he was coming. James guessed that this would be a quick trip. He'd go and try and talk to Jonathan, he'd run away, cry, or otherwise be 'shy'. And then he wouldn't force any interaction. James had decided that it was the kid's own choice if he didn't want to see him or talk to him, no matter how young he was.

"There you are, James," Jessie said as James wandered back into the lobby.

"I have to go," James said.

"Why's that?" Jessie said, though she had a guess from who he'd just been talking to.

"I need to go see the kid for a while. He's a little while away from here. He's in... A 'home'," James said. He hoped that Jessie wouldn't ask for an explanation of what that meant.

Jessie knew exactly what James was talking about, having spent time in 'homes' herself while growing up. She rolled her eyes. So Cassidy had let it come to this, had she? This situation was something Jessie really didn't like about James. "So," Jessie began. "You're going to take, little, um, what's his name again?"

"Jonathan," James said. He wouldn't forget the kid's name. Again, that is. The last time he'd seen him, Cassidy's field partner had to remind him. That guy had scoffed at him, then mocked him saying that James had named Jonathan himself yet still couldn't remember, but hadn't mentioned it again, thank goodness. It had been kind of embarrassing, James recalled, so he wouldn't forget again.

"Right, yeah, so you'll go take little Jonathan away from his 'home' for what, a few hours? Maybe even a whole day?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah..." James said. He supposed Jessie wanted to get moving right away to Unova. "Did you want to-"

"Funny how Cassidy always appropriates you to her purposes whenever we're around," Jessie said.

"But-"

"Fine, fine, go ahead, James. I'll wait for your right here, even if it takes a while," Jessie said.

"You-"

"Don't expect me to come with you or anything. It's not my kid, after all," Jessie said.

"I know..." James said. This was his responsibility, and it inconvenienced the rest of his team. He picked up the directions that Cassidy had given and began to walk out the door.

"Wait, James. I'll come with you!" Meowth said, running over to him. "Better than sticking around here right now," it muttered.

"Okay," James said. It didn't matter much if Meowth came or not, since they'd likely not be there for very long. James and Meowth followed the directions that Cassidy had written down, going out of the city and into the more rural suburbs. James eventually found the house as described. It had a lot of toys out in front. A place like that seemed to be open to children. It couldn't be too bad... Could it?

James hoped so. Cassidy's declaration that they weren't taking care of Jonathan properly had disturbed him. There were a lot of ways to interpret that, and Cassidy hadn't even clarified, though James had asked for more specifics before he'd left. When asked, she'd just assured James that it was okay, that even if they Jonathan wasn't moved that he would soon be going to this boarding school, which was fairly prestigious and would give him a good education.

Though that wouldn't change how bad things were now, if they were indeed bad. James was apprehensive about finding out more. If Jonathan were being abused, he could just take him away, couldn't he? He wasn't heartless. He knew that kids this age counted on their parents, and he wouldn't just leave his own in that kind of situation.

James knocked on the door nervously. He could hear some loud voices and screaming from inside. A woman opened the door, and looking inside, James saw what he assumed was a normal sight for having a lot of little kids. A girl was walking after another older girl, screaming loudly as she grabbed at the girl's toy. Yeah, there was nothing really abnormal about this.

"James... Isn't it?" the woman standing at the door asked.

"Um, that's right," James said, looking back at her.

"We were told to expect you."

"Yeah..." James looked around. He became embarrassed as he realized that he didn't even know what Jonathan looked like now. Well, he was blond, and he had to still be kind of small...

"Dad!"

James looked down. The kid who'd just shouted that was now latched onto his leg, hugging him tightly. Well, this kid was small and blond, but how could he be sure it was Jonathan?

The kid eventually looked up, and James tensed up, gasping slightly. He was definitely Jonathan. James had never taken a good look at his face before, seeing as babies looked like anyone and Jonathan had just hid from him before, refusing to even look at him. And James had never asked for a picture of him or anything. But looking at him now, James saw that Jonathan looked a lot like himself as a kid. Jonathan really was his son. Not that James had ever denied it, but he hadn't ever consciously admitted it to himself until now, either. James looked away guiltily.

"So, when will you have him back?" the woman asked.

"Um..." James looked around, then back down at the kid who smiled back up at him, still latching onto his leg. "In a while, I guess..."

"So, tomorrow then?" the woman asked.

"Um... Yeah," James said.

The woman closed the door, and James was left alone with the kid, and just stood there a moment.

"James, are we going to leave or what?" Meowth asked.

"Right..." James said. "Let's go."

As they walked away from the house, Jonathan grabbed onto James's hand and held it tightly. He didn't say anything, James noticed, but did look kind of happy as they calmly walked along. Anything would be happier than the last times James had seen him, though. But here Jonathan was just genuinely content, even smiling, and didn't scream or cry at all. In fact, the kid didn't say one word. It was quite the difference.

Though as James began to observe Jonathan, he could begin to see what Cassidy had meant when she'd said they'd not been taking proper care of him. Joanthan was dirty, maybe hadn't bathed in a few days. His clothing was dirty in addition to being worn out and ill-fitting. His hair was unevenly cut, like they'd just hacked at it without care and hadn't even tried to cut it properly. All together, the sight was somewhat pitiable.

But these were all small things, not like major abuse. Looking inside the 'home', James could see that they had a lot of kids there. It being so crowded, maybe they couldn't pay as much attention to Jonathan as would be ideal. But it wasn't like they were starving him or hitting him or something like that. No, they weren't doing anything like that, were they?

James was kind of worried about it. He looked at a map, then wandered around before they ran into a small stream. "Jonathan, can you swim?" Jonathan looked up at him blankly. Well, this kid probably hadn't had the luxury of learning something like that, James realized. "It's okay," James said. "I'll show you how."

"Why swimming?" Meowth asked.

"You can see how dirty he is," James muttered.

"Why not a public bathhouse, then?" Meowth asked.

"You aren't supposed to wash clothes in those," James said.

"That's right..." Meowth said. It could see that Jonathan's clothing was kind of dirty too.

James stepped in the water in his boxers, but only took off Jonathan's shoes when lifting him into the water. Jonathan flinched as he felt the coolness of the water, but then just relaxed as he sunk down into the bank. "Are you okay?" James asked. He hoped the kid wasn't going to sink down like a rock or something. But he just stood up, the water reaching a little below his shoulders. "Okay, let's get these off," James said. As he took off Jonathan's clothing, he ran them through the water, then rung them out, handing them to Meowth to place to dry in the sun. He kept a close eye on Jonathan, who moved around, seeming to start to have fun in the water.

That is, until Jonathan let out a yelp. When James made it over to him, he saw the kid's eyes filling up with tears, and Jonathan latched onto him again. "What is it?" James asked.

"A pokemon... I saw one," Jonathan said.

"Hm?" James's eyes fell down to the water. A poliwag jumped out. Jonathan hugged James tighter as he saw it and shouted again. "Hey... It's okay," James said. "It's leaving now, see?" James pointed. Jonathan looked down the stream but still didn't loosen his grip. "You don't like poliwag?" James asked.

"I don't like pokemon," Jonathan said.

"All pokemon?" James asked dubiously.

"Yeah," Jonathan confirmed.

"Why?" James asked.

"Because I don't like them," Jonathan said, and James could tell the kid was about to get worked up about it.

"It's okay. I'll stay right over here with you," James said. He sat down in the water by Jonathan, and began pouring water over his head to try and help wash his hair. Jonathan looked at him with a perturbed expression, and backed away. "Don't worry," James said. "I'm going to make your hair look nice... okay?"

"Okay," Jonathan said, becoming agreeable easily enough.

James washed his hair and face, then lifted him out of the water, and the two of them went to dry off by the shore. James took a look at Jonathan now that he was undressed, checking for bruises. He didn't find any, except for one on his knee that looked like it had happened normally. That was good.

But Jonathan now started to shiver. He was just a little kid, more sensitive to changes in temperature like this. James looked around, and then saw Meowth running toward them. "Here you go, I got one of these for you," he said, throwing a towel toward James.

"Thanks, Meowth," James said. He wrapped it around Jonathan, and Jonathan seemed to become warm quickly that way. After they'd both dried off and gotten dressed, James then took out the scissors that he carried around and began to cut Jonathan's hair, trying to make it look nicer. It would have to be even shorter now, but it would grow out eventually, James told himself. He snipped until the hair was even. He looked at Jonathan's face. "There you are," he said.

Jonathan looked at his reflection in the water. He turned back to James and smiled.

"Good job, James. You look a lot better now, kid," Meowth said.

Jonathan looked over at Meowth and frowned, then moved back closer to James, grasping onto him again, his lip trembling as he looked away from Meowth. "Why does it talk?" Jonathan asked.

"Hm?" James said. "You mean Meowth?" he asked. Jonathan didn't respond, just held onto his leg tightly. "Hey, a lot of pokemon are useful and friendly, you know. You don't have to be afraid of them. Like Meowth. Meowth went and stole- got this towel for you, you know. It's not going to hurt you or anything."

"That's right. No need to worry about me," Meowth said.

Jonathan looked around, back at Meowth, then turned around again, burying his head in James's pant leg again.

James sighed. This was pretty much how Jonathan had acted when first meeting him, James recalled. Only this time the kid was afraid of pokemon instead of another person. James wondered if there was a good reason for that. "Hey, are there some mean pokemon in that 'home' or something?" he asked.

"No. There's no pokemon there," Jonathan said, seeming horrified at the suggestion that there would be.

"Oh?" James said. Well Jonathan hadn't had a reason to be afraid of him before, either. Maybe he just needed to get used to them. Maybe in a few years Jonathan would love pokemon just as much as any other kid did. Or, maybe James could show him now that he didn't need to be afraid of every pokemon. "Jonathan, I'll show you some of my cute pokemon, okay?" James said. Jonathan looked at James fearfully as he took out a pokeball.

"Oh boy, this'll go well," Meowth commented with a sigh. "Hey kid, you might want to back off."

Jonathan took Meowth's advice and watched as James threw the pokeball. "Go, Carnivine!" he said. Upon release, his pokemon wrapped itself around him and bit down on his head. Jonathan screamed and began to cry. James looked over at him. This wasn't really going as planned. "Hey, Carnivine, stop it," he said. "This kid's afraid of pokemon, and this is scaring him more. I'm just trying to show him that there's nothing to be afraid of, okay?"

Carnivine nodded, and loosened his grip on James, then hopped away from him. James ran to Jonathan and comforted him. "Hey, I'm okay," James said. "Carnivine's a little too affectionate, but it's still a really good pokemon. You don't have to be afraid."

Jonathan sniffled and held onto James's leg again as he stared warily at the grass-type pokemon.

"Go ahead, try to pet Carnivine, it won't mind," James said.

Jonathan shook his head no and held onto James tighter. James sighed and picked him up, walking up to Carnivine. "See? Carnivine's not going to attack, so you don't have to be worried about that," James said. Jonathan looked at Carnivine cautiously. He watched at James pat its head. "There you go, Carnivine. This is Jonathan. See Jonathan? Carnivine will be friendly to you, too. Won't you, Carnivine?" James said.

Carnivine nodded in agreement, grinning at James. "You won't show your love for him like you do with me, right? He's scared of stuff like that," James explained.

"It's kind of weird that you put up with it all the time, James," Meowth commented.

"Right... But don't do that to Jonathan, okay Carnivine?" James said.

"Carnivine!" Carnivine agreed happily.

"It said you don't have to worry about it, kid," Meowth said.

Jonathan still looked wary, but seemed to relax a little. As James put him on the ground, Jonathan looked up at Carnivine, who towered over him. Jonathan didn't take his eyes off the sharp-edged, spiky pokemon, but seemed to be a little less alarmed now that he'd been convinced that the pokemon wasn't going to immediately attack. James leaned down. "Go ahead, give Carnivine a pat on the head," he said. Jonathan shook his head again. "It's okay... How about if I help you, then? I'll try with you, okay?" James said.

"O-okay," Jonathan said. James took his hand, and both of them lifted it up to Carnivine's head. As Jonathan touched the pokemon's head, he felt kind of relieved. He started to believe his dad, and think that this pokemon was kind of friendly. Jonathan smiled, and even pat Carnivine's head again as James lifted his hand away.

"Now we can have some fun even with pokemon around, huh?" James said.

"Yeah," Jonathan said uneasily. "Your pokemon is okay. But other pokemon aren't... They'll attack!"

"Well then, my pokemon will protect us. That's how it works, right Carnivine?" James said.

"Carnivine!" Carnivine agreed.

They spent a while longer by the stream. Jonathan eventually loosened his grip on James and ran off to play. James just sat there watching him.

"Glad I came," Meowth said, sitting on the grass next to James. "It's a nice break here, huh?"

"Yeah," James said. He looked at Jonathan, who had been running around, but now just observed the stream, with Carnivine behind him. James could see that Jonathan was more comfortable now, and seemed to play happily, though he still didn't really interact with Carnivine at all. James began to relax, and his eyes drooped until Jonathan ran up to him, sitting on his lap.

"I saw the other pokemon again.. It's small. Maybe this big," Jonathan said, holding out his hands to show. "Your pokemon could beat it! Right?"

"Carnivine is a grass type, so it might be easy to beat water types even if they were bigger," Meowth said.

Jonathan looked at James with a wide-eyed, questioning expression, as if he wasn't going to believe what Meowth had said until James himself confirmed it. "Yeah... That's right," James said. He began to talk to Jonathan about the basics of pokemon, types and how even small pokemon could be powerful, and Jonathan seemed to listen intently, until he rolled over on the grass, looking away. James stopped, shrugging. He was just a little kid, after all. He couldn't be expected to pay attention too closely.

Jonathan looked toward Carnivine, then walked over and bravely touched it. "I like your pokemon," he said as he turned back to James.

James nodded. He was happy that it was easy enough to help this kid with this issue. He'd only been afraid of pokemon because he wasn't really used to them. "I have more... Would you like to meet them?"

Jonathan nodded, though it seemed that he still had reservations, since he still held onto James as James sent out his two remaining pokemon, Weezing, and then Victreebel, who tried to bite him, but James was able to duck. Jonathan tensed up and held onto him tighter, but then relaxed and just looked at the pokemon as he was introduced to them. Jonathan eventually let go of James and began to poke at the pokemon, then run around and play with them.

James sat back and watched. "It's good he's getting over that. That's a pretty bad phobia to have," he muttered.

"But it makes sense that he'd be scared of pokemon since he's never been around them before," Meowth said.

"Why?" James asked.

"Well... He's pretty small," Meowth said.

"But there are small pokemon, too. Like you. You don't get scared like that," James pointed out.

"Depends on the size of the other pokemon," Meowth said.

"But still, you can't just get frightened by every-"

"You can't really compare humans to pokemon, anyway," Meowth said. James was silent before Meowth continued. "Humans are pretty weak. That's why you need pokemon partners to protect you, huh? If I was a human that small that hadn't spent time around pokemon before, I'd be pretty scared, too. "

"...Right," James said. He got it already. Jonathan was a tiny, helpless kid. Just like James relied on his pokemon to project him in certain situations, Jonathan was relying on him now, trusting him to give the right information about pokemon. Jonathan was only able to happily play with James's pokemon now because he'd trusted when James had said they were safe.

Jonathan eventually wandered back to James, tugging on his pant leg. "Dad. Dad! I'm hungry."

James sighed a little. He could barely feed himself a lot of the time. They'd hadn't eaten much since they'd arrived in Kanto a few days ago. But he couldn't just not feed this kid. James counted what remained of their small amount of funds, and when he went into town, bought something for him from the first stand he found. "Dad, why don't you eat too?" Jonathan asked.

"I'm not hungry," James said.

"Really?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." James said, trying to sound convincing.

Meowth sighed. It was also kind of hungry. Too bad there wasn't an opportunity to just steal something right then.

"Oh. I'm done, I'm not hungry anymore, either. Talking pokemon, do you want it?" Jonathan asked.

"You bet! Thanks for the meal!" Meowth said.

"Huh?" James said.

"Hm, I guess a miniature size human doesn't need a full-sized meal," Meowth commented to James.

"Ah..." James said mournfully as he watched Meowth polish off all of the food.

Again, Jonathan tugged on his clothing for attention. "Dad, can we go swimming again? With your pokemon, too?"

"Alright," James said. He supposed that Jonathan hadn't noticed that wasn't just for fun, but rather to get him clean. But it was something they could do to pass the time easily enough. They went back down to the stream and got in. Jonathan seemed to have a lot of fun splashing around. James kept a close eye on him, knowing that he didn't know how to swim. "Look!" Jonathan pointed as he watched the poliwag jump out of the stream. "It's that swimming pokemon again."

"Poliwag. Pokemon have names, it's good to remember them," James said.

"Yeah. Poliwag. It's not scary," Jonathan said. Jonathan watched Carnivine hop out in front of him from underneath the water. James watched him fall back and caught him, and then Jonathan started to laugh. "That pokemon's Carnivine, right?" he said.

"Yeah," James confirmed, surprised that Jonathan hadn't even gotten upset at the pokemon's sudden appearance. What a difference this kid was from the frightened and quiet one he'd picked up just a few hours ago.

As the sun started to set, James pulled Jonathan out of the water. "Okay, that's enough for today, it's starting to get dark."

"Okay," Jonathan said. His level of activity had died down, James noticed, so maybe he was getting tired. After they had dried off and just sat down, Jonathan jumped into his lap again, hugging James this time. "I love you, Dad," he said.

James looked down at Jonathan with surprise. Similar as it had been with Cassidy several years ago, Jonathan's 'love' for him seemed kind of abrupt and inappropriate to James. He'd never really been around him until now, after all. But he couldn't say anything. He shouldn't tell a four-year-old kid that it was wrong to feel affection for other people, no, for his own family. It was Jonathan's right to feel that way, though it just brought up feelings of guilt for James.

Jonathan fell asleep quickly, and James wrapped him in the still slightly damp towel and put him on what seemed like a somewhat soft patch of grass. He looked at Jonathan's face. In sleep, it held an expression of contentment. It was kind of peaceful to see. James lay down next to him, and also fell asleep.

* * *

Jessie sat in corner in the mess hall of the rocket base, hoping no one would notice her. She'd gotten the approval for place tickets back to Unova, and some limited supplies that they might carry, such as specialized rocket pokeballs for catching powerful pokemon, a tracking device that had been configured for a different pokemon they'd been tracking, and not much else, really. But it was still a good idea to come there, Jessie confirmed. No one would be looking for them in Unova by the time they returned.

And it really wasn't a terrible thing for James to visit his kid. Jessie had often gotten annoyed before, thinking of what a deadbeat he'd been. But he was doing something now. It didn't even bother her that much that it was getting kind of late and James hadn't returned yet. She could deal, even if it was here.

Oh no, Jessie thought. She saw Cassidy and Butch entering the room. Cassidy had spotted her, despite her trying to hide. She spoke to her partner a moment, then wandered over to Jessie alone. "Hello, Jessie," she said.

"Hi," Jessie said, wary of her despite her pleasant demeanor.

"James is taking Jonathan until tomorrow. I don't think he'll be back until then," Cassidy said.

"Yeah," Jessie said, looking away. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Jonathan's really a sweet kid," Cassidy said. "He's really adorable. I think he takes after James more than me. Here, take a look."

Jessie just sat there silently as Cassidy pushed a picture in front of her. Looking at it, she saw a picture of who was probably Cassidy and James's kid. Cassidy began to show her several more. Yeah, he did look like James a little. But what was Jessie supposed to do about that? She did love James, but it didn't exactly please her that he'd choose her over his own kid. "I guess you're annoyed that you can't rely on James to help you out with your little bundle of joy," Jessie eventually spoke in her own annoyance.

"Hm?" Cassidy frowned now, narrowing her eyes at Jessie. "No, not at all," she affirmed.

Jessie turned around and met Cassidy's eyes now. "Really? You aren't just a little angry with him?"

"I'm not," Cassidy affirmed seriously. "I wouldn't rely on James even if I could. I actually love him, you know."

"And?" Jessie said.

"You can't really love someone you need to rely on," Cassidy said. "When love is real, it's completely unconditional."

"Aren't you a mom?" Jessie said. Love definitely involved relying on people, unless she was implying that children couldn't love their parents.

Cassidy frowned. "Don't even imply I'm neglecting my son. I'm going to do everything I can for Jonathan. You don't really know anything, so don't say anything about him."

"I wasn't," Jessie said. "But then, what are you saying?"

"Oh, right." Cassidy tone was more relaxed. "Just think about it, Jessie. If you have things set up so the person you love can fail you by relying on them, it's not really love. You're just going to end up hating that person. But that won't happen for me. James can't fail me because I don't need him, I want him. So I'll always love him and never hate him."

"Even though he's not with you at all?" Jessie pointed out. She then decided to push the subject. Cassidy would probably hear about this eventually, anyway. "Actually, I'm with James now."

"With as in what?" Cassidy asked coldly.

"As how you're thinking of," Jessie said, not seeing a reason to elaborate on that.

"Hmph." Cassidy sat back, closing her eyes. She smiled now, her icy demeanor completely disappearing. "We'll see how long that lasts," she said. Then she opened her eyes and looked right at Jessie. "Even if it lasted forever and ever, I could handle it. Like I said, I don't need him."

Then Cassidy stood up, leaving the rest of her meal on the table. She walked away, leaving the room completely. Jessie stared after her. Years ago, she would have loved to have the guy Cassidy was sweet on choose her instead. She'd tease her and have fun lording it over her rival. But now, it didn't seem like that would be a satisfying thing to do at all. The whole situation left a bad taste in Jessie's mouth.

James had dumped her years ago anyway. It wasn't Jessie's fault. Jessie repeated that sentiment to herself. She'd never told him to avoid Cassidy or his kid at all. That was just something he'd been doing on his own for a long time. He just didn't like her.

Cassidy had some weird views of relationships, anyway, Jessie considered. Depending on the loved ones was not only acceptable, but absolutely necessary. They were the only people who could be counted on, if for nothing else than for the assurance of being loved in return. Jessie absolutely depended on James for that right now. Even with all of their other hardships, it was a relief to be able to do that.

* * *

When morning came, James knew it was time to head back. He led Jonathan along the way back to the 'home' that he was staying at. Jonathan seemed as happy as he'd gotten to be the other day, walking calmly with James and Meowth. But Jonathan tensed up when he saw the 'home' in front of him. He looked up at James questioningly, a devastated expression on his face.

James looked away sheepishly. "It's time to go back, now..." he said.

Jonathan sunk against James, hiding his face against James's leg, even trembling as he tightened his grip. James looked down. The kid was getting really upset. It was almost like he was going to...

Jonathan looked up at James blankly. "I won't cry," he said, as though he'd read James's mind.

James's guilt increased as he heard this and observed Jonathan further, looking upset though his eyes were still dry, and he walked cooperatively ahead. Jonathan gripped onto James's hand as they walked up to the door. "Back already?" the woman James had spoken to yesterday said with a sigh. "I don't suppose you've already had breakfast?"

"No, not really," James said.

"Of course not. Jonathan, hurry up, get to the table," the woman said.

Jonathan squeezed James's hand tighter and looked up at him hesitantly.

"Don't whine if you aren't quick enough," the woman said.

Jonathan eventually let go of James's hand and walked to the next room. James took a quick look around the place. The living room that he stood in was small, dirty though not overly so, and overcrowded with various junk. Looking to where Jonathan had gone, James saw a room with a lot of kids. Several yelled as Jonathan sat down at the table with them, frowning as he reached for the pot in the middle. Another kid grabbed the serving spoon from him, and Jonathan sat frowning, tears welling in his eyes even as the spoon was shoved back to him.

James turned his back and left. Meowth followed him. "A far cry from how you grew up, huh James?" he said.

"Yeah," James said, starting to get a sick feeling in his stomach. "But Cassidy said he'll be going to a nice boarding school, soon. He won't have to deal with this for long. He'll be okay."

"How soon?" Meowth said.

"A few months... I think," James said.

"That long? Why can't you move him someplace else? Maybe a place like the pokemon breeding centers?"

"He's not a pokemon," James said.

"I know that. I just mean a place like those, only for little humans. Pokemon breeding centers are clean, and they wouldn't shove as much pokemon in a little space like that as they did with the tiny humans in that place. They give the pokemon specially made and portioned meals, too. Isn't there a place like that for little humans?"

"I guess not," James said. "Cassidy said she was looking, though. There's nothing else I can do."

"She can't take him? What about you? Just for a few months?" Meowth said.

"It's not that simple for me, you know that," James said. "I guess it's not as simple for her, either."

"I guess so," Meowth said, shrugging. Then its face perked up. "I know! What about your parents, James? Why didn't you think of them? They could take care of him, couldn't they?" Meowth suggested, then nodded to itself. "It's good idea, huh?" Meowth praised itself with a self-satisfied smile.

"No. That's not an option," James said firmly.

"Why not? They can afford it! And they wanted you to have kids, right? They'd be happy to meet him and help out, wouldn't they? I know you don't get along, but-"

"They won't do it," James said.

"Why not?!" Meowth said, annoyed that its good idea was so easily dismissed.

"The answer to that is obvious," James said.

"What answer is that?"

James sighed, looking over at Meowth with a frown. "Do you really not know?" he said.

"Not at all," Meowth said.

James paused. He didn't really want to talk about it, but he supposed he could offer a quick explanation at least. "Well... As you know, Jonathan is illegitimate," he said. Hopefully that would explain it all.

"Huh?" Meowth said, blinking staring at James cluelessly. "James, he looks pretty real to me."

"That's not what 'illegitimate' means," James said.

"Then-"

"Illegitimate means when someone's parents aren't married. Cassidy and I aren't married, so Jonathan is illegitimate."

"Yeah," Meowth said. It now got the meaning of the word, but still didn't get why James was so upset. "And so?"

"And so, everything that goes along with that..." James said.

"Like what?"

James's hands trembled as he thought of it. Even if it seemed pretty human-like, Meowth was still a pokemon, so it seemed that it wouldn't understand something complicated like this.

"It doesn't matter at all, does it?" Meowth said.

"Of course it matters! My parents won't accept that! They'd barely want anything to do with him if I'd married someone they didn't approve of. They won't even look at my illegitimate kid!"

"But how can you be sure of how they'll react? Maybe they won't care as much as you think," Meowth said.

James paused. Maybe they wouldn't. Maybe they'd welcome James back home after all this time, embrace Jonathan as the family he was, and just be happy that James had even-

No, James shook his head. He wouldn't even start thinking like that. He couldn't let himself get all optimistic just because Meowth, someone who didn't know the situation fully, was. James knew his parents. If he went to them with this, he'd be punished for such behavior, Jonathan's existence would soon be ignored, and they'd again concentrate on getting him to live his life the way they wanted him to. "They will," he said to Meowth.

"But why is it such a big deal?" Meowth said.

Couldn't he just leave it alone, James thought to himself. "It's just how they are. They'd shun him."

"Too bad," Meowth said, starting to realize just how bad of an idea it had been. James's parents were sort of crazy, treating him like they did. Yeah, it wasn't really that great of an idea in the first place. "But what about you, James? You could just come with us to chase those pokemon later. After this kid gets into his school. Right? Maybe you could even take him to Unova or something."

James closed his eyes and stopped. He then opened them again, and kept walking forward quickly without comment.

"James?" Meowth said, running after him. "Wait up!"

* * *

Waiting impatiently in the deserted lobby, Jessie looked up as she saw him approaching. "James, finally," she said. At last he was there. She was sick of waiting, sick of hearing people crack jokes about blunders from years ago, sick of Cassidy shoving pictures of her kid in Jessie's face. Now that James was back, maybe they could leave. "Where's Meowth? Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"Um... I don't know," James said.

"Hm? You want to stay here longer? I've been here a while and I can tell you it's not fun."

"I-" James paused, looking down. "I don't know what to do, Jessie."

"What do you mean?" Jessie said. "We know exactly what our plan in Unova is, don't we?"

"I went and saw him... Saw my kid..." James said, fidgeting. Jessie said nothing, so he continued, bursting out with what had been on his mind. "That 'home' he's in, it's dirty and crowded. It's awful!"

"Oh? You don't approve of what Cassidy's doing with him, then?" Jessie said.

"I know, Jessie. She's doing her best," James said.

"And so?" Jessie said.

"Maybe he shouldn't be in there... Maybe someone should take him out..." James said.

"So, you going to go let her know that her best isn't good enough?" Jessie said. There might be more fireworks here before she could finally go, she thought to herself. But she was willing to stay and support him. Unova could wait.

"No," James said in surprise. "I wouldn't do that."

"Then?" Jessie said.

"Maybe he should be with me. He's my son, after all," James said.

"Hm?" Jessie said, blinking in surprise. Did he actually want to take an active role in the kid's life? Jessie expected James would want to years ago when the kid was first born, but she'd eventually decided he never would after he continued to avoid the situation. That he wanted to do something now couldn't be what he was saying, could it?

"I should just take him away from there and keep him with me. I have the right to, don't I?" James stated more than asked. That was right, he affirmed to himself, Jonathan was his as much as Cassidy's. He had every right to comfort the kid as he took him away from the misery where Cassidy had decided was 'best'.

"Hey... Are you saying you actually want to take him?" Jessie asked.

"Y-Yes," James admitted. "I think he wouldn't mind coming with me, either. I could watch him all the time and make sure he's alright... Wouldn't that be better? Wouldn't it? Right?"

"Yeah... Sounds like it," Jessie said. "Well, should we go and get him now then? How far away is it?"

James felt some relief at listening to Jessie. So, she was alright with it then. He'd still make the same decision, but he was happy that he had her support. They could go and get Jonathan now. Jonathan would probably be happy to see him, and then James could make sure he was clean and paid attention to and taken care of... Just like he had...

James's relief vanished in an instant as he thought of the situation where he'd visited with Jonathan. It had been hard to take care of him even then. Kids as young as Jonathan needed near constant supervision. James couldn't leave him somewhere if they were to do something. He also needed all the basics, including food. James had given up his last dollars for just one meal, but he couldn't be sure he'd have that all the time. What would happen to Jonathan with them? He'd be unsheltered and hungry eventually, wouldn't he? James couldn't provide better than what he already had, could he? James looked down, devastated at this realization.

"James? What is it?" Jessie said.

"We can't really just go and take him," James said.

"Why not? You afraid of what Cassidy will say or something? You have to stand up and say something to her, then. You do have a right to your son, James," Jessie said.

"It's not that I'm scared of her... It's just, what will he get with around me, Jessie? He'd have to go through what we do. He's helpless, but he trusts me so much. So I can't just take him with me so he can go hungry and maybe even get hurt," James said.

Jessie didn't respond. That all might be true.

"I want to take him! He wants to come with me, too. But I can't, he can't," James put his hand to his face as he said this, beginning to cry.

"James," Jessie said, sighing. Maybe it was right. The adult had to make the tough decision, and it seemed Cassidy's decision was the best after all. She still wanted to think that it wasn't and that there was another, better option. But it was James's decision. It was his kid, not hers. He was going to decide what he thought was best.

"B-But after we reach our success... Then I can go get him, right? I can have a house and food for him. I can give him everything he needs then... Right?"

"Yeah..." Jessie said. "We have one more reason, so we'll reach our success all that quicker, right? Then you can go and pick him up to live with us right away. Right, James?"

James began to wipe his tears off his face. "Right," he said. He stared forward confidently, and grabbed Jessie's hand as they made these declarations to each other. They'd head back to Unova, and then capture those legendary pokemon. Then he and Jessie would fly right to the top of the rocket ranks. Then he'd be able to do everything he hadn't before, including take care of his son.


	8. The Ideal of Love

**8**  
**The Ideal of Love**

Jessie, James, and Meowth walked through the shadowy hallway, hoping not to be noticed. When they reached the end of the hall, James unlocked the door, and they both went into the tiny dorm. Jessie sat down on the uncovered mattress, and Meowth sighed in relief. James closed the door quietly.

Jessie smiled as he did. "Look what else I have," she said.

"Are those our plane tickets?" James said.

"Not just that. I've got some cash, too," Jessie said. Under the ticket, she revealed several bills.

"How did you manage that, Jessie?" Meowth asked.

"Oh, the same as I got the tickets. When I told this new kid we were on an important mission to Unova, he was ready to give me whatever I needed," Jessie said.

"Nice!" Meowth said, and grabbed the cash and tickets to inspect them.

James grinned. So, Jessie had been able take advantage of someone's inexperience and unfamiliarity with them. Well, all the better for them. "That's great, Jessie!" he said, grabbing her hand.

Jessie looked away, blushing. She then looked over at Meowth. "Meowth, why don't you leave," she said.

"Huh?" Meowth looked up from the paperwork. "Why?"

"I shouldn't have to tell you that," Jessie said, glaring at him.

"Wait just a minute there, Jess! Where am I supposed to go?" Meowth demanded.

Jessie shrugged. "There's lots of places for pokemon around the base. Go find somewhere," she said.

James felt guilty. Jessie wanting to be alone with him was becoming status quo. It was definitely inconvenient for them to just throw Meowth out there, though. "Jessie, maybe-"

"Fine, I get it. I don't want to intrude on your love-love time," Meowth said.

"No, Meowth, it's-" James said quickly.

"Just get out, already," Jessie shouted, interrupting him.

"See you in the morning," Meowth said with a teasing smile, then opened the door.

Jessie shut the door after it, frowning. She paused a moment before turning to James. She looked awkwardly toward the ground as she did. James blushed and did as well. But he really didn't want it to be awkward, so he spoke. "Thanks for before, Jessie."

"For what?" Jessie said. She hadn't really done anything at all, except made sure they would be able to complete their task.

James smiled, though he couldn't think of how to answer the question. Jessie had just been helping him talk through the situation. It might not have seemed like much to her, but it had meant a lot to him. "You're just wonderful, Jessie. I love you."

"I love you too, James," Jessie admitted, though she looked away. She hated that she said this so distant from him. She hesitated to move forward, nervous about the next step.

"Even before... You know... For a long time, you've been the most important person in my life," James said.

Jessie nodded. There was a silence between them. She allowed herself to look over at him. As James opened his mouth to speak to her again, Jessie moved forward, then embraced him.

James was surprised at the moment, then gently hugged her back. He let her kiss him again. Standing there with her was enjoyable.

They eventually got into bed, rolling one of their sleeping bags over the top of their mattress, and another over themselves. James was happy to just be able to lie there peacefully with her. As he was about to sleep, he heard her call him again. "James?"

"Hm?" James opened his eyes and turned over to her.

"You want to do it, don't you?" Jessie asked.

"Oh," James said. His eyes had opened wider, and his heart rate increased in his panic. "N-No Jessie, I don't need to do anything like that. I just love you."

"It's okay," Jessie said. "I really want to, James."

James swallowed, feeling all the more nervous. Of course Jessie wanted to, she loved him. He loved her as well. This was true love, James was sure. So soon he should feel a rush of passion for her and want to have sex with her.

But he didn't. Not at all. Even as Jessie said she wanted to have sex with him, he didn't feel he wanted to any more than he ever had, not at all. That fact scared him. "You want to right now?" James asked. Maybe he just needed more time for the right feelings to kick in.

"Kind of," Jessie said. "I don't know, James."

James felt better after hearing Jessie had her own reservations. "It's alright, Jessie," he assured. "I really don't want to, anyway."

"You don't?" Jessie said.

Seeing Jessie's hurt expression, James realize he'd said the wrong thing. "No, Jessie, it's not like that," he quickly insisted. No, it wasn't like he didn't love her at all, but he wasn't sure how to appropriately explain himself in a way Jessie could both believe and understand him. When it came to his feelings on sex, she'd never really been able to do either. But there were multiple reasons they wouldn't want to do it, weren't there?

"I love you, Jessie," James assured. "I don't want to get you pregnant though."

Jessie smirked. "I wouldn't let that happen," she said.

James looked confused. "But it would just happen if we did that, wouldn't it?"

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious, James?" she said.

"Um..." James paused, trying to think of what he might have said to provoke that reaction.

"You can take precautions, you know," Jessie said. "Didn't you and Cassidy do that? Your condom broke or something?" James's expression only became more bewildered. "Didn't you two use any protection at all?"

"Um... I don't think so, no," James said quietly.

"Well, no wonder you have a kid then!" Jessie said, raising her voice slightly. She saw James wince, looking sulky and ashamed. "Hey, James, don't worry about it. I'm not going to make myself vulnerable like that. I'm on the pill now, and you can use a condom, so I definitely won't get pregnant."

"Okay," James said. So he was out of excuses, was he?

Jessie felt the tension in James's body and sighed. "Not tonight though. I don't want to yet, she said." For now, the mood definitely wasn't right.

"Okay," James said. He reached over and hugged her, cuddling close to her again. Jessie was unsure about all of this as well, wasn't she? He'd feel the same way as her when the time was right, and this wouldn't be an issue at all anymore. James hugged Jessie close, feeling some relief that he wasn't that strange after all.

And just with that, all of his tension was gone, Jessie realized. With that, she began to feel more comfortable as well. She focused on the positive. It was kind of drafty in the dorm, but she was warm next to James. The two of them had failed at their previous tasks, but they'd be headed to Unova soon where they'd finally reach success together. Completely relaxed, Jessie began to fall asleep.

* * *

The city was now familiar. Stepping off of the plane, Jessie, James, and Meowth were ready to go right to work. They headed north, going through the dusty construction site. They went quickly, then breathed a sigh of relief as they finally stepped into Nimbasa City. The various neon colors splattered throughout, including in the park in the distance, made everything seem just a little bit brighter. Jessie grabbed onto James's arm. "It's a little nostalgic to be here again," Jessie commented.

"It hasn't been that long," James said.

"I know," Jessie said irritably. "It seems like it though. I had a good time with you the last time I was here."

James laughed and looked away with some bashfulness. Meowth sighed. Even if it hadn't gotten in the way of their goals yet, Jessie and James's lovebird act was getting annoying. "Come on you two, we've got to get moving," Meowth said.

"Right," James said.

"We know, Meowth," Jessie said with a warning tone.

James noticed Jessie didn't let go of his arm. The casual affection pleased him, but he hesitated to do anything else with Meowth nearby, ready to comment. Instead, James looked around. A bustle nearby the bridge caught his eye. "Hey," he began, squinting. "That's that weird lady, isn't it?"

Jessie nodded as she saw Fennel. "Yeah, it's her. The freaky dream lady."

"We really should avoid her, shouldn't we?" James said.

"Probably," Jessie said. She didn't want to go find an alternate way, though. "She looks busy though. Let's just walk right by her."

"Might as well," Meowth said.

Jessie did drop James's arm as they tried to sneak by Fennel. They faced away from her as they scooted by the crowd. They took a peak toward her, and she was caught up in talking to a group nearby. She caught their gaze, and her eyes widened in recognition. "Hey!" Fennel called, running toward them. It was too late to escape, so the rockets just stood in place. "It's you, I knew it," Fennel said. "You're the criminals that were going to Entralink, weren't you?"

"You're pretty rude, aren't you," Jessie said.

"You're calling us criminals, but where's the proof?" Meowth demanded.

"Well, I did talk to Drayden about your situation. But please pardon my rudeness."

"It's alright, but we're too busy now to chat," James said.

"Right. I don't know what you've heard, but we're totally reformed," Jessie added.

"Yes, I understand," Fennel agreed hesitantly. "But that's not important right now. You just need to know to stay away from Entralink! I'm only saying this for your safety."

"We're going nowhere near that place," Jessie insisted.

"Yeah, we learned our lesson," James added.

"And now we're completely on the up and up," Meowth said.

"Oh, that too," James agreed.

"But why do you mention it?" Meowth asked.

Fennel put a finger to her head and paused. The rockets stared at her as she didn't move, wondering if something was wrong. "You okay?" Jessie asked.

"Yes!" Fennel said, surprising the three with her sudden speech. "Just fine. But I've been monitoring Entralink. I saw Zekrom rise up from there, I've got proof of it too. I captured it on film, and my instruments definitely detected the presence of a pokemon."

"Can we see?" Jessie asked.

"Yes, yes!" Fennel grabbed some kind of device. "See?" she said, showing it to the group.

James looked at the picture. Some kind of dark shape was over the forest. "It just looks like some kind of blurry shadow," he said.

"Maybe a cloud," Meowth added.

"No! It was Zekrom. I have other pictures, even a few seconds of video. I'll go- Oh, wait. I need to get this all out to who needs to know. You all just be sure to stay away, won't you?" Fennel asked. She turned away and started putting her device back into her bag.

"You won't catch us anywhere near that place," Jessie assured.

"Well- Oh... Well, good!" Fennel said, then began running down the street.

Jessie looked and waited until she was gone, then began walking forward along the walkway. James and Meowth followed. "We can't let this go," she said.

"What do you mean, Jess?" Meowth asked.

"We have to get over to Entralink right away! We'll capture that pokemon before anyone else does," Jessie said.

"I don't know, Jessie," James said. "That place wasn't all that nice to be before."

"I won't let that scare me away," Jessie said. "Do you want to capture that thing and finally get the success we've been working toward, or not?"

"I do!" James said. Again, he let Jessie's enthusiasm take hold of him. "Let's go, Jessie! You're right! We should go right to that little island. Nothing can stop us!"

"Yeah, maybe," Meowth said, frowning. "But do we really want to waste our time? I don't think her proof was all that impressive. It could just be more crazy rambling, like everything she was talking about before."

"She said she had more proof," Jessie pointed out.

"Yeah, but we didn't see it," Meowth said. "And I don't know about you guys, but I trust what that Iris brat said more than this lady."

"She had a picture of the pokemon we want and told us right where it was!" Jessie said. "Let's just go. We'll have it captured in no time."

"The tower is a safer bet, Jess. Let's just keep heading there," Meowth said.

"The greater the risk, the greater the reward," Jessie said with a smile. "They're definitely hiding something in that weird place, you know. So I say we change our plans. What do you think, James?"

"You're right, Jessie, we really should go there," James said. "Isn't Entralink closer, anyway?"

"Exactly!" Jessie said. "Looks like you're outnumbered, Meowth."

"Fine," Meowth said with a scowl. "We'll need more supplies for that place, then."

"Aren't these fine?" James asked, pointed to the backpack he had on.

"We have all the specially designed team rocket pokeballs that we'll need," Jessie said.

"And other stuff, too!" James said.

"We're well-equipped and ready to go," Jessie said.

"But how do we get there in the first place! Don't tell me you two want to try swimming again?" Meowth said.

"No," Jessie said sheepishly.

"Definitely not," James added.

"So we've got to get supplies and make sure everything's ready for our escape. We should also try something else for those weird dream pokemon. Gas masks won't work. They go right into our mind," Meowth said.

Jessie shrugged. "We'll just beat them all up before they get to us."

"Right! They don't look that tough," James said.

"Well, they won't be catching us by surprise this time," Meowth said. It was starting to get caught up in their idea as well. "Alright, let's go for it you two!"

* * *

Jessie, James, and Meowth looked proudly at the finished product as the hot-air balloon began to ride with no problem. "We'll get away with no problem," James said.

"You think you're up to catching it in the first place?" Meowth asked.

"Of course," Jessie said. "We'll just go after it with everything we've got. Then we'll definitely win." Jessie threw up her pokeballs. Her three pokemon, Arbok, Wobbuffet, and Woobat, appeared in front of her. "You're all up for a fight, aren't you?" Her pokemon let out various calls of affirmation.

"My pokemon are too!" James said. He threw out his own pokeballs. Weezing, Victreebel, and Carnivine appeared. "Are you ready to fight the legendary pokemon?" he said. His own pokemon mirrored the sentiments of Jessie's. Carnivine grinned extra-wide, looking ready for a fight.

Meowth nodded. With these two acting so determined, it couldn't help but also feel confident. "We're definitely ready. We'll get into their little compound easy. You two help me make more bombs to set off, we'll surprise those dream pokemon before they can surprise us."

"Right," Jessie said. She then turned over to James. "Hey James, don't you have another pokemon?" she said.

"Oh, well, Chimecho's not really right for this kind of thing," James said sheepishly.

"It's all for one! Chimecho has to help out, too," Jessie said.

"Please Jessie, it's not that type of pokemon," James insisted.

"Oh," Jessie said, looking suddenly thoughtful. "That's right, it's a psychic type pokemon. It could help against the other psychic pokemon."

"Chimecho can't go against all of those pokemon!" James said. He wasn't really sure if it even had the ability to act as any kind of psychic buffer.

"Yeah, that's something to think about," Meowth said. "What can we use against the psychic pokemon we don't scare away."

"I have a simple remedy," Jessie said. She brought out a bag from their shopping, and held up a long shiny roll. "This should help."

"What is it?" James said.

"You don't know?" Jessie said.

"I think I know," Meowth said, but it wondered how that could help.

"It's just regular aluminum foil," Jessie said as she rolled it out and ripped off a piece.

"I thought so," Meowth said. "But how will it help us?"

"I thought you'd know," Jessie said. "We just make them into hats. Even if they don't look very good, they'll still block out all the psychic nonsense. I should have thought of that before."

"Will it really work?" Meowth said.

"Of course it will!" Jessie insisted. "When I was younger, I heard all these stories about scary psychic pokemon through the forest I had to walk through to go to school. Someone told me to make one of these hats, and I wasn't bothered. Not even once."

"Did you ever even see the psychic pokemon?" Meowth asked.

"No," Jessie said. "They kept far away from me."

"If they never attacked you, how do you know something so simple even works?" Meowth asked.

"It's just common knowledge! Everyone knows that it works," Jessie said.

"I don't know, I've never heard of it," Meowth said. "What do you think, James?"

"Well, I've never heard it doesn't work," James said.

"Right! So let's get ready. Here, you two make your own." Jessie threw the roll of tin foil toward them.

They worked quickly, and soon all three had their head layered in the foil. As they were folding up their finished product, James turned to the pokemon. "Shouldn't they get one, too?" he asked.

"Good idea," Jessie said. "You three! Over here!" she shouted to her pokemon.

"Come on, let's get ready for the fight tomorrow," James said. He ripped off long pieces of the tin foil along with Jessie and wrapped it around his pokemon's heads.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet shouted, putting its arm against its head. The hat was solid.

"Charrbok!" Arbok shouted, but as it moved its head, the hat fell off. As Woobat flew up, its hat also fell off.

"Come on," Jessie said. "I can fix this." She grabbed another piece of tin foil to secure the hat to their heads.

"None of them can see!" James shouted in a panic as he realized it. All three of his pokemon were blind-folded by the hats he'd made.

"So poke out eye holes, it's not that hard," Jessie said.

"Right," James said, and quickly tried to do so. Soon his pokemon could see, but the hats kept falling off.

"Ug. Come on James, I'll help," Jessie said. After a few minutes of work, all the pokemon had the tin foil wrapped around their heads, or in the cases of Weezing and Woobat, their entire bodies. "There, done," Jessie said.

"But now only Wobbuffet can take it off," Meowth pointed out.

"We'll just return them into their pokeballs like this, then," Jessie said. But as she took out her pokeball and tried it, it wouldn't work. Arbok still stood in front of it. "Damn it," she cursed.

"It's okay, Jessie, we'll just take them off," James. He collected Jessie's carefully created hats and labeled them all, and began returning the pokemon into their pokeballs one by one. By the time they were done, it was late.

"I've got the tent set up," Jessie said. She turned and glared at Meowth.

"I'll be staying far from it," Meowth said.

"That's good. I don't think there's room for you, anyway," Jessie said cheerfully. She began cuddling against James.

James again felt guilty with pushing Meowth away like some third wheel into the cold, but did feel happy to get some alone time with Jessie again. It was very nice to be able to openly express himself and show his affection to her in a private area like that. He began to get excited just thinking of it.

They entered the tent together, and James already began settling next to her. "Hey, James?" Jessie began.

"Yes, Jessie?"

"Did you have any condoms with you?"

James immediately tensed up, the peaceful feeling he had leaving him. "No," he said.

"Relax, James. I took care of it myself," Jessie said. Digging through her bag, she pulled out the needed items herself. "See?"

James's panic only increased as he saw it. But there was no reason for it to, was there? She was just being prepared. "We'll have it for later, then?" James said.

"Yeah," Jessie said. James felt instant relief. Then Jessie spoke again. "Or why not tonight?"

"Ah-" James began, looking away. "Well, we don't have to. I know you might not really want to."

Jessie frowned, then grabbed James's face, moving his gaze back over to her. "I won't be coy, James. I want to do this as much as you do. I've really been looking forward to it."

James nodded, but only felt worse. His feelings regarding this hadn't changed at all. There was no sudden urge. Instead, James just felt the same as he always had. He didn't want to, not with Jessie nor anyone else. Even so, Jessie was honest about her own desires, which had been steadily developing. Why didn't he feel the same way? He loved her, didn't he?

"There's really no reason we shouldn't tonight. It can be a pre-celebration," Jessie said, stroking his hair and smiling at him.

"Do you really want to?" James said.

"Yes," Jessie said.

James nodded. If he wanted to be in love, doing this was the price he'd have to pay, despite how he felt himself. Others saw it as absolutely normal and natural and desired it. Jessie was the same. He wasn't incapable of the act himself. He definitely loved her, and he'd absolutely be able to prove it by having sex with her.

So he laid back with her after they took of their uniforms, turning on a dim light to see. James couldn't bring himself to look at her. He numbly took the condoms as they were handed to him. He wondered why people would even want to do these things if they had to go to such lengths to 'protect' themselves. He had to be sure to cover himself like this, and even worse, Jessie had to fill her body with drugs. Wouldn't it be better just not do anything like this?

But he was in the minority with this opinion, James knew. Besides, Jessie seemed happy. He just needed to grin and bear it. He really did want her to be happy, after all. He leaned forward and kissed her. As he leaned back and looked in her eyes, he could see that she really was contented. She'd done so much for him, so he could definitely do this much for her.

Something was bothering Jessie. She was pleased to finally be with James like this, but something was off. She thought about it as they kissed, then started to realize that James seemed more and more tense by the minute. As she pulled away and stroked his shoulder, he did give her a reassuring smile, but then looked away.

"What is it, James?" Jessie asked. "You don't feel up to it tonight?" As she asked this, James didn't react at all, except to continue to avoid eye contact with her. Now that she thought about, James had been weird about sex the entire time. He was relaxed with her until the subject was brought up. He wasn't a virgin or anything though. "James, it's not that big a deal, is it?"

"Oh, no," James said, trying to keep his voice from trembling.

"Then what is it?" Jessie continue to push. Come to think about it, he'd always been weird about the subject of sex. She could interpret a lot from that. Including some ways she really didn't want to. Jessie sighed. He'd tell her if she kept pushing, wouldn't he? "Come on James, is it that you don't want to at all? Not even if we're careful? Just never?"

James could hardly believe he was hearing these words, but they'd definitely been said. It filled him with a sense of incredible relief. This kind of understanding was something James had started to think was impossible for anyone when it came to this subject. He pulled Jessie close, embracing her happily, breathing easier now. It wasn't just relief he felt, but a bond to her. Jessie really understood him, and she didn't sound angry at all. This was the best possible outcome for him, and he never would have dared even hope for it. But it really was true love, wasn't it?

Jessie liked that James had relaxed, and was again embracing her with little reservation, but was confused at his sudden change. "So James, you-"

"No, I don't want to. Not ever," James said, happy he could do so.

Jessie was shocked for a moment, and these words cut through her. She didn't say anything for a moment. It was unbelievable that he could act one way and then say something so contrary to the affection he showed her. Jessie eventually pushed him away. James mirrored her own shock as she did. "Jessie-" he began.

"What's wrong with you?!" Jessie demanded.

"Nothing," James said.

"Don't say that! You're some kind of freak, aren't you? And how could you just lead me along like this? I really loved you, you know! I thought you loved me too."

"I do," James said.

"How can you even say that?" Jessie asked. She shook her head as James only stared at her silently. "You can't really keep pretending that now."

"I-" James began.

"Did you think I'd rape you or something?" Jessie said.

"N-No!" James said in surprise.

"Then why?" Jessie said. "You're so immature, James! You keep saying you love me, but you don't even understand what you're saying!"

"But Jessie-"

"God James, stop whining! You're a grown man. Can't you deal with something without whining all the time?"

Jessie had said things like that to him before. But for some reason, it hurt him worse to hear them now. He tried to hold back his tears to please her, then went and looked her right in the eyes. "I really do love you, Jessie," he said with a steady voice. "I love you so much."

As James put his hand on Jessie's arm, she just shook it off. Then she glared at him. "Just go, James."

James felt he'd been slapped as she said this, though she refused to touch him at all. She refused to even speak with him now. He turned around. He could hardly feel anything as he fumbled around to get his clothing on. He grabbed the rest and got out of the tent to put it on outside.

No one could see him in the dark, abandoned space in his immodest state. Nor could they see his eyes as they started to well up with tears. James waited until he was out of earshot from Jessie before he began to sob from his honest heartbreak.


	9. Reject Biased Truths

**9**  
**Reject Biased Truths**

Meowth sat up and yawned in its place beside the tree. It climbed the tree and looked over at the landscape. The sun was just peeking out over the horizon. In the distance, Meowth could see the Entralink island. It squinted and tried to see if it could spot any activity. But the area looked even more shadowy than anywhere around it, maybe because Meowth was trying so hard to see something. After a while, Meowth just stopped trying and jumped down. They'd be seeing everything up close soon anyway.

Meowth meandered back to where the camp was. It could tell something was off right away, and tilted its head. Jessie and James stood with their backs turned to each other, each wrapped up in their work. They hadn't even been able to keep off each other before. Well, maybe they were putting all that aside, there was a lot of work to be done, anyway. "Hey, guys!" Meowth greeted them. Jessie glowered in response while James flinched. No, there was something else going on.

Meowth forced itself in front of Jessie's gaze. "You both ready?"

"Of course I'm ready," Jessie said. "I'm going to catch this pokemon easily. Nothing's going to stop me when I go to Entralink."

"Good," Meowth said, then turned to James. James refused to make eye contact, his face holding a miserable expression. "What about you, James?"

"I doubt he's coming," Jessie answered for him. "Who could stand having him around, anyway?"

"Um, you?" Meowth said.

"Don't be ridiculous! I don't like sniveling little manchildren," Jessie said.

James flinched as he heard the comment, but Meowth just sighed. "Really, Jess?" it said.

"Really," Jessie said, glaring at Meowth, ready to pounce if it said anymore.

James picked up his head and turned toward Jessie. "So you don't want me to come, Jessie?" he asked.

Jessie turned to James and shrugged. "Is that the kind of person you are, James? Just ready to do whatever I tell you without thinking?" she said.

"It's not like that," James said.

"Whatever," Jessie said. "You should just do what you want. It won't bother me at all."

James looked at the ground miserably. Meowth glared up at him. "It'll bother me!" it said. "You two need to get over your little tiff. There's more important stuff we need to think about." Meowth became irritated as neither changed their demeanor at all. "Get yourselves together! Hurry up, we've got to get working."

"I'll go on my own, then," James said.

"Fine," Jessie said.

James began to walk off. Meowth looked from one human to the other. James walked further and further away as Jessie stood working. Neither looked at the other. "Jessie, wait here, I'll be back," Meowth said, then ran after James. "James! Wait up!"

James looked back and did wait as Meowth ran closer. Meowth caught its breath, then looked up at James. "What's with you two, James?!" it demanded.

"Jessie hates me now," James said.

"Yeah, fine! I just knew this was going to end badly. But can't you forget about it until we're done? We shouldn't be splitting up now," Meowth said.

"Jessie can handle herself. She doesn't need to be protected by me," James said.

"Yeah, she can. But we've all got to go up against the legendary pokemon together if we want to have the best chance at catching it," Meowth said.

"She can catch it on her own, I know it," James said.

"I don't think so," Meowth said.

"Maybe not," James admitted. Being legendary, and god-tier at that, these pokemon had to be pretty tough. He'd really wanted to believe that Jessie could do anything, that the three of them could do anything together, but maybe it wasn't true. Together or apart, maybe they had no chance at catching a pokemon that powerful. James clenched his fist, trying to push the doubt away from his mind. He could do this much without her, build up the gumption to follow through with his own plans. "No, she can!" he insisted. "I believe in her."

"So you'll be there to help her then, right?" Meowth said.

"No." James shook his head. "She doesn't want me there, so I won't be."

"But we're gonna need to help each other," Meowth insisted.

"Right, you should go with her, Meowth," James said.

"What about you? You want this success too, right?"

"Yes," James affirmed. "So I'll get it. You go to Entralink and I'll go to that tower. You and Jessie can catch one and I'll catch the other!"

"You really think it'll be that easy?" Meowth said.

James looked at the ground. No, he didn't think it would be. They were both likely to fail, especially alone. But again he shook his head. He couldn't think that way. He couldn't fail. This was all he had left. Other than his mountain of failed plans he also had disappointed parents, a relationship that he'd wanted badly yet was never going to last, and a neglected son.

But if he was able to succeed here on his own, the opinions of his parents wouldn't matter. He'd rise to the top of the rocket ranks and be able to take care of his son easily. Jessie would probably also forget about how angry she was at him, too. He'd give it everything. He wouldn't let himself fail. "Just go with Jessie, Meowth. I'll see you again after we've both captured Unova's legends."

Meowth nodded, realizing it wasn't going to get anywhere arguing with James. "Good luck," it said. Separating from James, Meowth wondered if its friend would really be alright out there on his own.

* * *

It was a long walk to the nearest city. Upon reaching Nimbasa, James ran into Fennel yet again. She waved to him. James tried to ignore her, but she ran over to him. "I'm so glad to see you here. Not that I thought you and your friend were up to anything bad, but I really think everyone should stay away from Entralink. Especially since Zekrom's appearance has been confirmed."

"Oh?" James said. He felt a twinge of worry and guilt. Then he pushed it away. If he showed up to 'help' Jessie, or worse 'rescue' her, she'd just be angry. He should have been there in the first place if he'd wanted to be reliable.

"That's right. Drayden will be heading there soon with his protégé. He'll see what's going on, and I'm sure it will an amazing part of Unova history! But Drayden and Iris are really tough trainers, you know? Even though it's exciting, regular people like you and me shouldn't be there."

James nodded. At least Drayden would be there to help Jessie out again, a repeat of before. Drayden wasn't their ally, but it seemed he could be counted on more than James himself.

Fennel studied James's face closely. She could see his depression easily. "Hey, are you alright? Have you been getting enough sleep lately?" she asked.

"Not last night," James said.

"You really should get a lot of sleep," Fennel said with a nod. "Our dreams help us sort through the events of the day and recharge for the next. Why don't you take a rest in the pokemon center? I've got a pokemon that can sing for you if you're suffering from insomnia."

James frowned. "I can't sleep," he said.

"We all need our sleep," Fennel argued. "I'll just-"

"I don't have time for that. I need to get to Icirrus City," he said.

"Really? What a coincidence, I'm going with my assistant to meet someone. You can travel with us using a flying pokemon if you'd like."

"Would you really help?" James said.

"Sure, it's not much trouble," Fennel said.

"Thank you," James said. He supposed Jessie would call him weak or something for having to rely on someone like Fennel right then, but it didn't really make that much difference. Once he got there, he'd be relying on himself.

* * *

James shivered as he arrived in Icirrus. The wind blew, and clouds passed by quicker than usual in the skies. "Thank you," he said to Fennel again as she chatted with her assistant.

"No problem. Good luck with whatever you need to do!" Fennel called.

James nodded. As he was about to leave the front of the pokemon center, the door opened up. A young man looked over at him, pulling up the straps to his backpack. "James? Is that you?" he said.

"Pikachu?" the pokemon at his feet mirrored his question.

James was going to turn away, but then just turned back to the kid and nodded. Ash, though he still had an unmistakably youthful appearance, was definitely growing up. Standing so close to him, James noticed that Ash was just as tall as himself, if not taller. It was a little disconcerting, James thought, remembering the little twerp they used to push around.

"Hi," Ash said.

"Hello," James replied, looking around nervously. He wasn't in the mood for conversation, but Ash never had seemed like that much of a conversationalist.

Today, Ash was curious, however. "Didn't you go back to Kanto?" he said.

"I did," James said. "I just got back."

Other people might wonder why he came back, but Ash just nodded. "Nice to see you again. Where's Jessie and Meowth?"

"Oh, I don't know," James said.

Fennel came over and joined them. She'd been spying Ash's Pikachu, but then just turned to James. "That's right. Was it your girlfriend you came to meet? Did she head over here?" Fennel asked.

"Girlfriend? Do you really have a girlfriend, James?" Ash asked with some disbelief. With anyone else, James might have assumed they were suggesting he was gay, but Ash just seemed to be bewildered that anyone might have a girlfriend at all.

"That's who 'Jessie' is, right?" Fennel said.

"No," Ash said. "They were just co-workers in Team Rocket. Since they quit, I guess they don't travel together any more. Is that it, James?"

James felt a rush of fear. That was right. They'd just been co-workers. Yes, that's all they were in the first place. If he failed at being a good agent of Team Rocket, which he had been as of late, he'd lose her for real, for good. It was the truth, and James wanted to deny it with all his will. "She's just not here right now!" he shouted.

"Oh, okay," Ash said. He shrugged a little. "Fennel, are you-"

"I have to go," James said, and walked off. He looked back. Neither Ash nor Fennel paid much attention to him as they got caught up in a new conversation. James looked at Ash's feet. Pikachu had been looking at him warily before, but now just looked up at Ash, paying attention to whatever he was saying.

That Pikachu was exceptional, James remembered. They weren't the only ones interested in it, as it seemed that this pikachu could attract legendary pokemon like Zekrom. If there was no legendary pokemon in the tower, Pikachu might call one of them up there if James let it out to attack.

James walked away, pretending not to be paying attention to Ash at all anymore. But when he thought he could hide out of sight from them, he turned back to observe them again. Ash wasn't suspicious of him at all anymore, James realized. Even his pikachu, which never seemed to let down its guard around them before, hadn't paid James that much mind. James was going to steal it.

He reached in his backpack. There were a lot of useful items there. James realized guiltily that he had all of the specialized pokeballs they'd gotten from the base. He hadn't meant to just take them all. Jessie would definitely need to use them if she encountered the legendary pokemon over at Entralink.

But James couldn't think about that right now. He had his own task to complete. There was a convenient electric-proof net inside his backpack as well. Jessie had picked it out with the thought they might capture pikachu again. He'd do it on his own. He couldn't fail, so he ought to have every resource ready.

* * *

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted angrily as James dragged it around. The pokemon had been easy enough to grab, relaxed and napping after its dinner. Ash had gone inside the pokemon center and left it, then James had just quietly walked over and thrown the net over it. With no witnesses that he knew of, James had just run off.

It pleased him to recall the situation now. It had been simple to get to the city, simple to capture pikachu, and he hoped everything else would be just as simple. "Be quiet," James said to Pikachu. To help, he hoisted the net farther off the ground to carry it as he continued his walk to the tower in the sunset.

The sun had gone below the horizon when James arrived. Even if he couldn't see that well in the now twilight, there was no way that old tower could be anything other than the Dragonspiral tower he was looking for. James looked up, and saw it was taller than he'd expected it to be. He gaze fell down to the entrance. A modern-looking walkway went over the water and to the building. James wanted to cross it right away. He saw some activity there, and ran away and hid. Looking through his binoculars, he could see a whole group there. He shivered as he watched them. The wind was picking up even more as night fell upon them.

It was a couple hours later that they finally left. James watched and listened carefully as they walked by him back to Icirrus. "Pika!" Pikachu called. James held still. None of the party members noticed anything. As they walked far away, he got up and again looked toward the entrance again. It was darkened and silent. After a few minutes more of observing, James was satisfied that it was safe for him to enter.

He crossed the bridge, only the light of the moon as it peeked around the clouds and the sparks from Pikachu's cheeks providing him with any sense of where he was going. As James entered the building, a feeling of unease came over him. He heard a noise, and reached for someone, but no one was there.

Sadness overcame his fear. Before now, he'd latched onto Jessie when surprised or frightened like this. She'd never minded, just leaned on him just the same. James wished he was with her right then, so they could both be huddled somewhere warm in each other's arms.

But they didn't meet their goals by hiding out somewhere when things got tough. James knew well that he wouldn't finally reach success by backing off when it was a little uncomfortable. So he just went through his supplies and brought out a flashlight. He put his pokeballs where he could access them immediately in case there was trouble. Then, even though it was cold and dark, James just walked forward silently.

He didn't know where he was going or where the next staircase was, or how to get around some of the rubble, so it took a long time to get around. As he kept climbing, his flashlight went on and off, and he'd stop to fix it. James felt like whining quite a bit. No one but Pikachu would hear him if he did, but he still kept quiet. It was a little too quiet. He was left alone with his thoughts, which were too painful at the moment.

Mostly, James couldn't get Jessie out of his mind. He wanted to be strong for her, be the kind of person who could make his own decisions. But had he really been wrong yesterday? He'd just wanted to do everything a person who loved her would.

The idea that some kind of feeling would overcome him and cause him to want to have sex had been beaten into James head since he was young. But as he'd grown up, it had never happened. He didn't understand it at all. He'd told his parents that multiple times. They'd always said that he'd feel differently when he was older, but as he grew older and still felt the same, they'd only become irritated with him.

What he'd wanted had never mattered to them. Even though James had felt frustrated by that, he'd continued to do what they wanted because they'd told him it was good for him. His life wasn't really that bad, anyway. Jessebelle had been the one to push him over the edge.

At first, it had just been the idea that after he was out of the control of his parents, he'd just be transferred to her's, with every aspect of his life controlled. Then she'd started making advances toward him. Some of the advances he only understood in retrospect, but at other times she'd been direct. James recalled how embarrassed his young self had been. "No, Jessebelle!" he'd protested as she'd made the suggestion. Jessebelle continued to drape herself over him, so he'd stood up, his face completely red.

"What's wrong, James? There's no reason not to, I'm completely willing."

"We're not married!" James had shouted. He really didn't care much about that, even at the time, but latched onto it as an excuse as she pressured him over and over on multiple occasions, since if he said he didn't want to it would just be ignored. She still continued to pressure him anyway, even restrained him once. James had decided to go to his parents after that. He explained what had been going on in detail to his father, in every humiliating detail.

His father didn't seem concerned at all. "It's perfectly natural," he'd explained. "And there's really no harm in it at all. You're engaged, and you'll soon be married. If something happens, you'll be an honest man and just marry her sooner, won't you?"

"But I don't want to do that with her!" James had insisted. His father had just waved his hand in dismissal, so he continued. "Even when we are married, I'm not sure I want to."

Then his father had just laughed. "That won't be a problem, James. Jessebelle's a lady who can take charge when needed. She'll be able to deal with your little problem easily."

James tripped as he'd remembered those words. He'd never felt sicker than he had during that conversation. The idea that he might be forced to have sex when he didn't want to was not only something to be ignored, but laughable? He was just a toy for Jessebelle, a tool for his parents to continue their family line? James clenched his fist as he thought of it. He wasn't! He'd left and escaped that fate.

But all of the negative feelings had remained. He hadn't thought about them in a long time. There were plenty of worries with his new lifestyle, which was much harsher. He'd even had a kid, much differently than his parents would have wanted.

But the main distraction was his companions. Jessie and Meowth really did care about him. He was heartbroken, but couldn't hate Jessie even a little bit. After all, the opposite of Jessebelle, she actually cared if he wanted to have sex or not. Even if it wasn't acceptable to Jessie for her romantic partner, her caring showed through. James pulled up to his knees and started to cry. It had hurt so much, but this situation was, at least in part, what he'd hoped for.

"Pika?"

James turned around. Pikachu stared at him, frowning. It was almost as if his frequent victim felt some concern for him. James wiped his eyes. He hated that sympathy, and wasn't going to take it sitting down. He stood up again, and checked to make sure the knot on Pikachu's net was tight. Then he put it over his back as he began to climb the tower again.

If Pikachu could speak, James would happily talk to it. He was sick of being alone with his own painful memories. Even trying to focus on the positive memories wasn't working. Remembering every happy exchange he'd had with Jessie only reminded him of how unacceptable he was to her, and how he'd likely never be able to change that.

The flashlight burnt out, completely broken. After spending a while trying to fix it again, James put it away, and just tried to climb himself, fumbling around in the dark. "Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted at him. The pokemon's sympathy had completely run out, and it now expressed its irritation with James's bumbling around in the dark. James tried to carry it more carefully, putting the net in his arms. Pikachu went over and bit him. "Pika!" it shouted.

James almost dropped the pokemon, but managed to hold it. He hoped he was going in the right direction. Since he'd been steadily moving up, he really had to be. So he just kept moving.

Eventually, James realized it was getting easier for him to see. Looking out a window, he could see the very beginnings of daylight. He had to almost be at there, didn't he?

Going up one more staircase, James realized happily that he was. He was now peeking through the columns that he knew were at the very top. The twilight of the new day poured in, lighting up the various broken stone structures. James smiled. It had taken him hours to get there, but there he finally was.

His momentary happiness was interrupted as he finished taking in his surroundings. Up here, it was cold, the wind pouring in around the abandoned room. There was nothing there at all. No legendary pokemon, no chance for him to succeed or even fail.

On the floor where James had placed the net, Pikachu now stood up. It looked up at him. "Pikachu?" it questioned. Without Meowth there to translate, James could only guess what it was saying. Pikachu might be wondering what they were even doing there, since it wasn't like James had been talkative, explaining his plans on this as they'd wander around in the dark on their way up. James began to feel foolish. There was really no major reason he should have come up here at all. It was a wasted trip.

But no, he couldn't decide that now. Not until he'd given it everything he had. That was why he had Pikachu right now, wasn't it? It had acted as a beacon for the legendary pokemon when they'd first come to Unova. It WOULD be as useful again, James decided. He began to unknot the net.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted as it jumped free. It glared at James, eager for revenge for being taken from Ash and dragged around roughly. Its cheeks sparked.

James realized his mistake. He couldn't control Pikachu's electric attacks, nor where they'd go. He wasn't even sure where he wanted the attacks to focus, just not at him. James reached for a pokeball. "Go!" he shouted as he threw it out.

"Pika CHUU!" Pikachu shouted. The electric attack shocked James, and Carnivine appeared too late. "Pika," Pikachu began its next attack, glaring toward James.

"Carnivine!" Carnivine said, jumping in front of James, holding out its vines to protect him.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied angrily. The two pokemon began to argue.

James sat up. A verbal argument between the pokemon would get him nowhere. "Carnivine, attack Pikachu! Use vine whip!" James ordered.

"Carnivine!" Carnivine agreed.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted back at it. As Carnivine hit Pikachu, Pikachu released another electric attack. It wasn't all that effective on Carnivine, but James had a feeling that his pokemon still couldn't beat this exceptional pikachu. Still, that wasn't the goal.

"Carnivine, bite!" James shouted. Carnivine bit down on Pikachu's head, and Pikachu used a quick attack to damage it and then get free. Pikachu then landed on the ground, catching its breath as it glared as its opponent.

That wouldn't do, James thought. Pikachu's electric attacks were what had gotten the attention of the legendary pokemon before. "Carnivine, come over here!" James shouted. As Carnivine came closer, James gave his next order. "Bullet seed!"

Pikachu winced as the attack hit it. Since Carnivine was far away, it was forced to again use an electric attack, this time from afar. "Pika!" It shouted. "CHUU!"

Carnivine couldn't dodge the attack. "Carnivine, quick! Don't let Pikachu near you! Use your bullet seed attack again!" James said. Carnivine followed his commands, and jumped around in some strange battle dance with Pikachu, attacking to keep the electric pokemon away, and then attacking to keep Pikachu from getting any closer.

In the end, the flashy battle did nothing except fatigue both pokemon. James pulled out Carnivine's pokeball, then returned it to save it from any further harm. James wasn't ready to give up just yet, though. He reached for his next pokeball.

"CHUUU!" Pikachu shouted. It had seen that James wanted to change to another pokemon, and shocked him before he could. "Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled as it finished.

There was still nothing around them, James realized. He'd just been having a pointless battle with Pikachu, and that was likely what the pokemon was yelling about. But James wasn't ready to give up just yet. He was exhausted and upset, but he'd still do everything he could. He wasn't willing to admit his efforts were useless and futile just yet. James reached for his next pokeball.

"Pika CHU!" Seeing James still reaching for the next pokeball, Pikachu shocked him again. It smiled as it shocked him a third time, just to be sure. Pikachu was irritated enough to keep attacking the human. James still wouldn't stop trying to get the next pokeball to continue to fight, so Pikachu got ready for its next electric attack. It suddenly turned away, however. "Pika?" it said.

James sat up, and then immediately stood up as he saw what Pikachu had seen. There was a fire, seemingly coming from the horizon. But it wasn't the sun, just an all-consuming flame. It rose up, and was coming for them. "Pikachu!" Pikachu said in fright, then scurried away.

James was frozen from both fear and confusion. He stood still as he watched the phenomenon in the sky. It came closer and closer, the flames appearing to thin out as it did. As the white pokemon appeared in front of him, James's exhausted mind didn't really accept that it was happening.

Reshiram paid him hardly any mind just the same. It looked around. "Pikachu?" Pikachu said, coming out of hiding and addressing the larger pokemon.

Reshiram looked down at the electric pokemon, then up and away. As James saw that it might be turning to leave, a rush of adrenaline filled him, and he ran over to it. "Reshiram!" he shouted. As Reshiram turned to his attention, James figured the pokemon's identity was confirmed. He threw out two pokeballs. Weezing and Victreebel appeared. James looked at Reshiram confidently, smiling. He was really getting the chance. "Weezing, Victreebel, get ready to fight!" he said. "I'm going to capture you, Reshiram!" James declared.

"Don't trouble yourself," Reshiram said. "I'll go willingly with my new hero."

James was confused at Reshiram's words. Then he thought of the legend. Reshiram's legend, as well as Zekrom's, was actually the legend of their hero. Hadn't Iris said something about this? They'd returned, but they needed a new hero. Their intentions hadn't ever been anything but what their human trainers, or 'heroes', had willed them to be. James smiled. He'd like that, a legendary pokemon whose will was his own. "I'm your new hero," James declared.

Reshiram looked at James again, this time staring right into his eyes. James's mouth opened slightly, gasping. Images entered his consciousness from various times in his life. Then they were gone, and he was back in the tower, getting over his momentary confusion.

Reshiram turned from him. "No. Absolutely not."

James felt fear, and then anger. "Why not? I will be your new hero! I am going to be!" James said.

Reshiram almost seemed to sigh. "A heart like your's lacks the courage to seek the truth."

"No! I can do that!" James insisted.

"The truth would destroy someone like you. Were you to step in place of my hero of truth, you'd crumble."

"I wouldn't," James insisted. He wasn't really sure what Reshiram meant, but he'd definitely be able to deal with it. He'd dealt with various hardships in his life, and been subject to both emotional and physical pain. Whatever it was, he was sure he could handle it. Even if it was worse than anything he'd known, he'd figure out how to deal with it.

Reshiram turned to him again. Its eyes flashed, and James found his consciousness was being manipulated again. "What-"

"I'll show you the truth that you reject, if you'd like. Just so you understand."

"Go ahead," James said.

"I really will, though I think it could harm the spirit of someone like you," Reshiram warned.

"I don't care," James said. He accepted Reshiram's manipulation of his consciousness, and found himself remembering Jessie, and all of his disappointment and anger. Yes, it was the truth that she rejected him and saw him as defective in some way. It was painful, but it was something James both knew and dealt with. Reshiram had to try harder if it wanted to find a truth he couldn't deal with.

The image was manipulated again. James saw Jessie again, out of her rocket uniform. She looked really nice, all dressed up and smiling. James also smiled as he saw it. But his feelings fell out of sync with the image of Jessie as a man approached her. Jessie ran over to greet him happily. She lay he head against him, the same as she'd often done with James, except it was with someone else. In a few moments, various images flashed before his eyes of their relationship, including how it would end. This man wanted Jessie as much as Jessie wanted him. He'd have sex with her, no issues at all. They'd live happily ever after.

As it ended, James stared at Reshiram. "Jessie never had a boyfriend like that," he said, though the man had looked an awful lot like an older version of the pictures of her boyfriend when she was younger, as well as other men she'd showed interest in. James waited for Reshiram's response. "Jessie never had a boyfriend like that, so it's not the truth at all!" he said.

"That truth you deny, I just unburied it from your own heart," Reshiram said.

James was surprised as he heard that. Yes, this was the truth. It wasn't the truth as it had happened, but it was the truth of what would really make Jessie happy. She'd never really be happy with him. That was the truth after all. "No!" James said as a knee-jerk reaction to deny what he already knew.

"Your heart sees the truth, but continues to bury it under all of your filthy ideals," Reshiram said.

Again, James found his consciousness manipulated. He didn't want to see any more of Reshiram's 'truth', but his heart had already been weakened by the last one. This time it was different. He saw his little son Jonathan this time. He sat around that crowded foster home, looking dirty again, still with the sad expression he'd worn right before James had left him. James frowned. So, Reshiram thought he could be manipulated with images of his miserable son.

Well, it was right. Remembering Jonathan, James also remembered that he needed to reach success here. If he finally reached success, he'd also be able to make his son happy, as he could then provide Jonathan with the safety and care that he really needed. James now remembered that he needed to accept any 'truth' Reshiram provided him with, no matter how painful it was. "You're right," James said. "What you just showed me was the truth. I know it now. That's what Jessie really wants, and it's not me."

"Your heart still rejects it," Reshiram said.

"No, I accept it!" James insisted.

"Tearing your heart apart in your contradictions will only weaken it further for my purposes."

James opened his mind up further to Reshiram's manipulation. This time he was seeing a memory of something that he knew for sure had actually happened. It was the first time he'd seen Cassidy after she'd gotten pregnant. He'd felt uncomfortable with her. She'd looked ready to give birth at any time, though she'd told him she still had a few months left.

James had wrongly assumed that being pregnant, she wouldn't want to have sex with him again, but he'd been wrong. She'd initiated things soon enough when they were alone. He'd just thought Cassidy had wanted to kiss him, but then she'd reached for his belt buckle. "Wait," James had gasped, sitting up and becoming defensive.

"Something wrong?" Cassidy had asked with an honest concern. James had only answered with silence, trying to convince himself that he shouldn't have a problem with this at all rather than speaking. "Something is wrong, isn't it? What is it? You can tell me," Cassidy had assured.

"I..." James had began to speak then stopped. "Well..." He had only choked on his words, he couldn't get his feelings out of him and into them.

"Go ahead," Cassidy had said, touching his hand affectionately.

He'd have to tell her eventually, wouldn't he? James decided then just to let it out. "I don't want to do this, Cassidy."

"Hm? That's fine. We don't have to do anything right now if you're not feeling up to it," Cassidy had said.

Right now, meaning she'd proposition him again later. James had been tempted to leave it at this, but he'd known that he really shouldn't. "That's not it. What I said before was true, I wasn't sure if I wanted to have sex. And I was right. I didn't. I don't. I've never wanted to. And when I tried it with you, I didn't enjoy it, and I never want to do it ever again. Not with you, not with anyone."

James couldn't even look Cassidy in the face after he'd said that. He'd been sure she'd be furious. He'd really stepped on her ego, telling her that he didn't desire her and hadn't even enjoyed his past time with her. Even though she was in this position partly thanks to him, he'd said these things to her and hurt her, anyway. She could shout at him, or do whatever else she wanted right now, James had thought. In a way, he deserved it, since he should have just not second guessed his own feelings and rejected her in the first place, long before it had come to this.

But Cassidy just calmly touched his head. "Seems like this has really been bothering you, James," she had said.

"Yes," James had confirmed, still waiting for Cassidy's anger.

"Well, don't even think about it anymore," Cassidy had said, not getting angry at all. "I'm fine with that." James had been speechless upon hearing this, and just looked at her dubiously. "Yeah, don't worry anymore," Cassidy had said. "I'm not a guy or anything. I'm not going to dump you because of this."

James still couldn't wrap his head around Cassidy's words. He'd thought what he just said would be him basically dumping her. Wasn't this the only reason people got into relationships like this? "Um... You do understand, I don't ever want to-"

"Yeah, I get it. It is a little weird, especially for a guy. But I don't care. Sex is fun, but it's not everything. I really don't care if you're not into it. It's fine. I just like _you_," Cassidy had said. "I want to be with you no matter what that means."

James swallowed as the memory faded. It was only now that he realized just how rare that kind of moment might be. The world was full of people who would react how Jessie did, and with opinions the same as his parents, that adults had sex and that was that. But even realizing this, he didn't regret his decision to reject Cassidy at all. He hadn't been in love with her, not then and not now. He'd had a few crushes here and there, but James had never really fallen in love with anyone but Jessie.

But Reshiram continued to barrage him with memories. Cassidy said she'd always be there for him. She didn't begrudge him at all, even though she had plenty reason to. She invited him back into her life on occasion after occasion, even now, saying she'd be there to support him no matter what.

Even if he wasn't there to support her. But she wasn't exactly out in the cold, unlike James, Cassidy had been successful in Team Rocket. She only had a lack of time when it came to caring for their son, James assumed, and that's what had led her to place him in that foster home. If James was there, he could still provide support, in taking care of Jonathan himself. This was something he'd been hesitant to admit to himself, though it was true. James realized now that he'd buried it under his ideals, just like Reshiram had said.

The truth was he should just give up on all of his dreams and aspirations. He should have stayed with his parents who could easily provide for him in the first place. But since he hadn't, he should go to Cassidy. It didn't matter if he loved her or not. They could provide something for each other, and she wouldn't try and goad him into something he was uncomfortable with. He should accept that this was the best it could be.

No, James thought, shaking his head. Even if Reshiram would come with him willingly as a hero of truth, he couldn't accept that. He wanted to believe in all of his ideals. All this time, he'd been relying on Jessie to prop them up for him. But he could support his ideals himself. He just had to believe in them, the same as Jessie always had believed in her's.

That's right, James thought to himself, nothing he wanted was impossible. He'd make Jessie happier than any other guy could make her. He'd catch Reshiram on his own terms and then, successful on his own as a rocket, then he'd take care of Jonathan his own way. He'd be just like Jessie from his own will power, and never give up on even one of his hopes, no matter what anyone said the 'truth' was.

"Weezing! Smoke screen! Victreebel, razor leaf!" James shouted. As his pokemon attacked, James got out the rocket-pokeballs. Weezing's smoke screen obscured the view, but Reshiram was a larger pokemon, hard to miss. James threw the pokeball forward. Watching it, he expected it to disappear into the smoke. Instead, a fire came out and consumed it. James stared at it in disbelief. Flame came and surrounded him.

James coughed as he put up his arms to protect himself. He could take the truth, no matter how much it burned. He'd accept that it existed, and fight it with every bit of his being. He'd suffocate it and kill it with the power of his ideals. James caught sight of Reshiram again, and threw forward another pokeball. It burst open from the heat and was destroyed before it even touched the pokemon.

James began to feel himself affected by the heat as well. He was getting tired. Though he tried to will himself to stand up, he couldn't find the energy. James fell to the ground in a faint. Again, he'd failed.


	10. New Hero of Ideals

_Author's Notes_  
_Welcome to the last chapter. Yes, this is the end, though I may write a sequel and/or other related stories some day. Keep an eye out. For now, I hope you've enjoyed this._

**10**  
**New Hero of Ideals**

Jessie and Meowth floated around silently on the balloon. As they got closer to Entralink, Jessie took out the hats they'd made the other day. She looked at the labels and placed them on her and her pokemon, giving Meowth its own. Seeing the labels for James and his pokemon, she began to feel sad. Frowning, Jessie crumpled the hats together and just tossed them away. "Useless things are useless," she said.

"Hey, Jessie, aren't you being a little harsh?" Meowth asked.

"Wobbuffet!"

"Quiet," Jessie snapped at her pokemon. When Wobbuffet closed its mouth, she turned to Meowth. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about."

"I told you both not to start up with anything like that! You just didn't listen," Meowth chided.

"It's none of your business!" Jessie said. "You're a pokemon, anyway. So you wouldn't understand."

"Oh," Meowth said. "Hey, the reason's not what I think it is, is it Jess?" Jessie's silence gave Meowth the answer. "Wow, it was even dumber than I thought."

"James doesn't understand what love really means! He's absolutely clueless! How could anyone be with a man like him?"

"But you knew that already, didn't you?" Meowth said. "That's what we talked about when you were starting up with your little crush! Don't you remember?"

Jessie frowned. She did remember. It embarrassed her now to think about it. Her state of mind then had caused her to completely ignore what should have been plain to her.

"You and James talked about this plenty of times before. You both knew how the other one felt. So why'd you two let what you already knew upset you so much?"

Meowth didn't expect a response, and Jessie didn't give one, though she thought about what the pokemon had said. Yes, whenever the topic of sex had come up, James had always been weird about it, saying things like he wasn't interested at all. Jessie had always assumed he was just being overmodest with his statements as a side-effect of his upbringing. It had never really crossed her mind that those had been his actual feelings.

Now knowing that they were embarrassed her further. She'd made herself that vulnerable with someone who felt nothing for her. Jessie wanted James, but he didn't think about her that way at all. Jessie turned away from Meowth, looking at Entralink as they got closer and closer to it.

"Poor James," Meowth said.

"Poor James?!" Jessie repeated angrily. She was the one who had been rejected like that.

"Yeah, he seemed upset. Hope he's okay," Meowth said.

"He'll be fine," Jessie said, and took out her binoculars. "We're the ones going to this freakish island, you know."

"Yeah," Meowth said. It adjusted the hat on its head. Entralink had been a scary place the first time around. "We're all ready, right?"

Jessie nodded. She looked away from the island, and started to go through all their supplies. Turning over everything, Jessie realized that something was missing and gave a shout. "Hey!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"What is it, Jessie?" Meowth asked.

"You saw James when he left. He didn't have that bag with him, did he?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, he had one with him," Meowth said.

"So he knew where we were going and went and took some of our important supplies anyway. Figures," Jessie said.

"So should we head back?" Meowth asked.

"No. We can still do it. We'll just use these other pokeballs," Jessie said. She took out a few regular pokeballs she carried around, and put a few in her bag for easy access. "That'll be simple enough, won't it?"

"Yeah," Meowth said. For fear of Jessie's reaction, it didn't point out that those specialized pokeballs had been designed because catching powerful pokemon with the everyday product was just so difficult. But it might not matter, depending on how their encounter went. Having the other supplies wouldn't guarantee success, anyway.

Eventually, they were over Entralink. Jessie and Meowth both got out their binoculars and looked around. They could see the whole little island from where they were, but nothing really seemed abnormal at all. Including any signs of the large pokemon.

"You don't see anything either, do you?" Jessie said to Meowth.

"Not a thing," Meowth said, frowning.

"It's just hiding in all that forest, then," Jessie said.

"I think so too," Meowth said. "Should we go down there, then?"

"Of course," Jessie said.

"What about all that mess we got into before?" Meowth said.

"You can see now that no one's around. There's no twerp or old gym leader to mess things up for us. We'll just swoop in, find the thing, capture it, and then we're done," Jessie said.

"What about all the weird dream pokemon around?" Meowth asked.

"We're protected," Jessie said, pointing to their hats.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet agreed, putting its arm to its head.

"Careful, don't knock the thing off," Jessie said.

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet said. It put down its arm and tried to stay still as they landed.

When they were on the ground, Jessie hopped out of the basket, and the pokemon followed. They began to walk around the island, Meowth leading the way with Jessie right behind, followed by Wobbuffet and Arbok, with Woobat flying above them. But even with their new point of view, each area of forest seemed the same as the last, and there was no sign that Zekrom was there or even that it had ever been there. After a while, Jessie frowned, and sat down.

"You ready to go?" Meowth said.

"Just taking a break," Jessie said. "You aren't thinking of heading back, are you? We've only gotten started here. I bet even if that Zekrom pokemon isn't around, there's something amazing hidden here, anyway."

"So, let's get moving, then," Meowth said. "Do you think Zekrom could hide in the shadows or something?" it asked.

"It's a big pokemon, and why would it need to?" Jessie asked. Even as she said so, she was looking around at every shadow for a place Zekrom might have hidden. Meowth and the other pokemon started to as well.

"Charrrbok!"

"Wobbuffet!"

Jessie looked over at her pokemon, and then in the direction that they'd indicated with their pointing and stares, hoping to see Zekrom. Instead, what she saw made her back up a little. Meowth also shouted and jumped in surprise. A large cloud of pink was coming toward them. As it came closer, it was plain to see it was a group of munna, swarming together like bugs.

"Let's get out of here!" Meowth said.

"No, I'm not afraid of them," Jessie said. "If they have to get together like that, they're nothing but a bunch of insects. We'll just squash them. Arbok, Woobat, Wobbuffet, go!"

The three pokemon jumped in front of Jessie, ready to follow directions and fight. Jessie shouted out attacks to Arbok and Woobat. She lost sight of Woobat who seemed swallowed up by the mass of pokemon in its position in the air. On on ground, Arbok was hit over and over again by attacks. "Arbok, return!" Jessie shouted, returning her fainted pokemon to its pokeball. That's right, these weird pokemon were psychic type, and Arbok would be weak against them.

But Wobbuffet was a psychic type too. "Wobbuffet, counter!" Jessie yelled. Wobbuffet began to glow. As munna's psychic attacks hit it, they were bounced back. Several munna fell to the ground.

"Mu!" various munna chanted, and they backed off. Jessie took the moment to breathe, though by no means relaxed. So, these pokemon were intimidated by Wobbuffet. As long as they didn't know that Wobbuffet couldn't pull that trick endlessly with all of them, they were okay. "Mu!" a munna shouted. Others moved aside.

Jessie saw Woobat come into view again. "Woobat! Get over here by us," she said. Woobat looked away, not paying attention. "Hey, Woobat!" Jessie shouted again irritably.

"It's that dream stuff," Meowth said. "Don't you see it?"

Jessie looked in the air. Yes, she could see some nearby munna were surrounding woobat, encasing it in that dream mist. "Woobat, over here!" Jessie shouted in a panic. Woobat seemed to listen to her, as it looked over at them attentively again. Then it flew toward Wobbuffet quickly, ready to strike it.

"Wobbuffet?" Wobbuffet said, looking at the other pokemon with some panic.

Before Woobat could hit, Jessie returned it to its pokeball. She then glared at the munna. "Just leave us alone," she said. "Or else!" She threw her hand toward Wobbuffet to complete the threat.

The munna backed away then, seemingly intimidated. Meowth breathed a sigh of relief, but Jessie still glared at the pokemon, not letting down her guard at all. The pokemon then began to form a line, then went into some kind of shape. As they flew above, the rockets could see it was a flower shape, made up of hundreds of munna.

"They're gonna bomb us with their dream stuff!" Meowth fretted.

"Wobbuffet can't attack! You're the only one left, Meowth! Go do something!" Jessie said, though she was sure that her friend might have nothing left that it could do.

"Enough."

As the voice echoed through the forest, the munna dissipated. They floated away, back to whatever hidden areas of the forest they'd been lurking in in the first place. Jessie, Meowth, and Wobbuffet all stared as Zekrom landed in front of them.

"Meowth, go ahead," Jessie goaded, trying to get it to attack the legendary pokemon in front of them.

"No way!" Meowth refused, now moving behind Jessie's leg.

Jessie turned around, not letting it hide away. "Just make it mad enough to attack and then Wobbuffet will do the rest."

"Not happening! Besides, how do you know this isn't some dream?" Meowth said.

Jessie looked around, trying to determine how she could tell. Well, the munna hadn't released any dream mist all that close to her that she'd seen, so that made her think it was okay. But then again, the island itself was full of the stuff. She looked at Zekrom. The legendary pokemon wasn't about to attack them. In fact, it had saved them. The dream mist had shown her exactly what she wanted before, and the weird munna going away along with Zekrom appearing had been exactly what she'd wanted right then.

"Meowth," Jessie said, crouching down.

"Yeah?" Meowth leaned over to her.

Jessie pinched Meowth's cheeks. "It hurts, right?" she asked.

"Ah! Let go!" Meowth shouted in pain.

Jessie dropped the pokemon and stood up. "Good, then it's not a dream," she said.

"Hey! That lets _me_ know, not you!" Meowth said.

Jessie narrowed her eyes at Zekrom. Thinking about it further, she realized that the munna didn't make them fall asleep and dream per se, just see illusions in realtime. There was a good possibility that this Zekrom was only an illusion of theirs. "So, you're the legendary pokemon that everyone's been talking about," she said.

"And you're either a daring intruder or someone who happened here by accident," Zekrom said.

"It's the former," Jessie said. "We're here because we want to be here, we don't follow the rules. Just so you know, we're not leaving until I capture you."

Zekrom stared at her, completely unfazed. "If you'd really like to become my hero, that might be possible."

"Hero or not, you'll still become part of Team Rocket," Jessie asserted.

"Your convictions are strong. May I test your heart?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Jessie said with a shrug. "Test away." As she did, she felt a moment of confusion. Then she came back to reality, or at least what seemed real. That wasn't good, she knew. It was starting to seem more and more likely that this was some kind of illusion.

"I can see you're a person who strives for her ideals," Zekrom said. "I do wonder if you might be suitable."

Jessie said nothing a moment. It was seeming more and more like it was going right into her fantasy. She gets Zekrom easily, then leaves. Just playing along might not be the best way to handle it, but she didn't want to rebuff the offer if it was real. "So," Jessie began. "You'll come with me off this island of freakish dream pokemon?" she asked.

"If you'd like," Zekrom said.

"I wouldn't," Jessie said. "It seems to me like you're desperate, aren't you, Zekrom? You and your pal Reshiram have been looking for 'heroes', right? If I fit the bill, then you're the one who needs me, right?"

Zekrom paused. "That's correct," it eventually said. "But you'd have no reason to refuse me. If you'd provide yourself to me as a hero, I would offer you much more in return. With me as your ally, you'd be able to do things that no human or even pokemon would. I could turn all of your dreams into realities."

"Maybe," Jessie said with a shrug. "But I've learned not to trust people- Well, people or pokemon that promise _everything_."

"Fair enough," Zekrom said. "Tell me what you'd have me assist you with, and I'd tell you if I'm capable of it."

"Well, for starters, I want to know what's the deal with this island. What's so special about it that no person or pokemon is supposed to be here except for you and your weird munna?" Jessie asked.

"Ah... That I would share with my hero. But since you aren't, it's not something I can just casually reveal."

"Why not?" Jessie said. "If you want me to be your 'hero', you should show me what you can offer."

"Alright," Zekrom agreed. "After all, after you see this, you'll know that I can indeed offer you anything, no, everything you'd want."

Before Jessie could reply, the wind whooshed around them. Their tinfoil hats were blown off their heads. The forest on the island simply disappeared. The ground was a solid black, and following it to the center, Jessie saw a spiral-shaped small tree, surrounding by a glowing pond. Meowth and Wobbuffet both shouted in surprise. Jessie turned to Zekrom. "What is this? What did you do?" she asked.

"This is Entralink without the protection of even one of the munna's illusions," Zekrom said. "Now you can see the Entree."

"Why did you have to hide it?" Meowth asked.

"It's the very foundation of Unova. With the help of my hero, this is what I used so long ago to create this region," Zekrom explained.

"How?" Jessie said.

"There was no place in this world that suited our ideals, so we pulled the land from another world and settled it here as the region of Unova."

"That doesn't make any sense," Jessie said. "What other world is there?"

"Do you really believe this is the only world there is? There are countless other worlds in endless universes. The first time I saw you, Jessie, I recognized you and your comrades from one of them."

Jessie paused, and realized Zekrom had been talking about when they'd first arrived in Unova, and it had stuck them from the air. "You're kidding," she said.

"Not at all. Alternate forms of all of us exist in many other worlds. I recognized the young boy you were fighting as my hero from several other realities. But I was even more interested in your group. You had an important part in a particularly interesting world. You and your comrades warped even the nature of reality. I find that impressive. Even before I tested your heart, I knew you'd be perfect as my hero."

Jessie shook her head. This was a little much to take in. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?" Zekrom suggested. Jessie walked toward the Entree and looked at it suspiciously. "You only need to touch it, then you can find whatever you'd like," Zekrom invited.

Jessie leaned down, touching the strange water. It shimmered in front of her, until she saw what had to be another world. This was the place that Zekrom had been talking about, Jessie realized as she observed more. Jessie saw herself, in an almost impossibly large white-tiled room. It was definitely not really 'her', but an alternate 'her' which stood there with James and Meowth. Others were around. The twerp was there, definitely a grown man at this point in time. He, his pikachu, and a few random kids and pokemon littered the area around them. In front of them was a white-colored pokemon. Reshiram? Observing closer, Jessie saw it wasn't the case. Reshiram was depicted with wings, and two legs rather than four, and had never been pictured with the yellow object surrounding it.

James was very upset. The 'alternate' her wanted to help him. Was the 'alternate' James her appropriate lover in this universe? No, Jessie realized from looking into the heart of the other her. Their relationship had never developed into anything like that, though the alternate Jessie cared for James very much so, and James for her. They'd do anything for each other, and Jessie had been ready to at the moment.

The visions passed by way too quickly for Jessie to properly appreciate them all, but she did get the idea that she, James, and Meowth together had control of this pokemon somehow. James ordered it to open a door which would turn their reality into something else. Without a question, to save James personal pain, Jessie had followed along, and so had Meowth. The 'other' Jessie couldn't see exactly what she'd just agreed to, but Jessie herself certainly could. That Pandora's box they'd opened could destroy everything they knew, or even worse.

Jessie forcefully lifted her hand out of the water. The strange visions lifted, and she only saw Meowth staring curiously at her. "What is it, Jess? What did you see?" it asked.

"Nothing that impressive," Jessie said.

"You aren't impressed?" Zekrom said. "I found it impressive myself, that one would be so set in their ideals that they would change the nature of the entire world."

"James was manipulated, and I just went along with it because I didn't know any better," Jessie said. "Anyway, that wasn't real."

"It was," Zekrom said.

"So it's the future?" Jessie said. She was older in that scene she's observed. Though she thought she'd seen her own memories differently in 'her' heart, making it truly different than how she existed now, maybe that had also been something she'd imagined.

"No, it's a different world. This world has no 'door' like the one you opened there. But that world is as real as this one. With the Entree, you can explore endless worlds, all of them 'real'. After you're done helping me, to thank you, I can transfer you to whatever one you'd like. Since there are endless worlds, there's endless possibilities. You can have as many of your wishes granted as you'd like. I'll allow you to choose your future world now, if you'd like."

Jessie looked back at the Entree, gazing into the bright, shimmering waters. Anything she'd like? Knowing she could make anything into reality, Jessie began thinking of wishes she'd long forgotten, starting from when she was young. Jessie had wanted her mother to come back and visit her so badly. Her younger self had wished for it often and intensely. Every day she'd thought her mother would walk through the door to get her at any moment, though it had never happened. It had pained Jessie so much as time went on and on with these intense yet futile hopes. Then she'd had to deal with the fact that she'd likely been abandoned, though later she'd found out that her mother had likely died on a secret mission for Team Rocket.

That option really wasn't that much better. She'd definitely change it. Yes, Jessie would want to start with a world where her mother had survived. Not only that, but her mother would have also been rich and successful as a Team Rocket member. Then her childhood would have been wonderful, Jessie considered, and she'd never have had to deal with the pain of being an orphan. It wouldn't have been lonely at all.

And once she was an adult, she'd still be with James. Maybe she wouldn't have been a Team Rocket member if her mother had survived, but Jessie knew she could just make this world into whatever she wished, so she and James could meet up somehow. It didn't really matter where or how. And their relationship would have been successful, of course. She wouldn't have to be put through the pain of his rejection at all, either. How that worked, she'd just figure out herself when she visited her perfect world.

Jessie paused before touching the water. Why was she still thinking of James? If she could have any world she wanted where any dream could be met, she could also have any man she wanted. Besides, wouldn't an 'alternate' James have the same defect? He might just be a completely different person without it. In the world Jessie had already seen, he did. But even considering that, and that Jessie had had an appropriate boyfriend there, James had still been that important to her. Both in the alternate reality she'd observed and this one, he was the most important man in her life.

Jessie clenched her fist, looking over the glowing pond to the Entree. What good would the perfect world do her? The ideal she was thinking of already existed. If she couldn't reach it in her own mind, she'd never reach it in any world. James wasn't her ideal boyfriend, but he was her ideal something. She cared about him, even loved them. Though she had lashed out at him harshly. Thinking back on it, she wished she hadn't. There was nothing she could do about that now, though. It had already happened. And though it was even crueler to think, the same could be said for her mother's fate.

Jessie stood up and turned around. She shouldn't have been tempted by Zekrom's offer. There was no telling what would happen to her after the fact. It could be the door to something awful, the same the temptation she'd given into in the 'other' world. Taking a momentary glance back at the Entree, Jessie saw Meowth about to touch the pond. "Don't," Jessie said, shaking her head. Meowth, having already been wary, backed away from the pond.

Jessie turned back to Zekrom. "This place really is dangerous, isn't it?" she said. "We couldn't even tell the boss about a place like this."

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet agreed.

"It is, but I will allow my hero access to it," Zekrom said.

"I don't need it," Jessie insisted. "You're the pokemon of ideals using this weird power to get to your ideal world? I don't have to do that. I'll just make this world into my ideal by myself. So put back up your illusion and we'll all forget we even saw it."

Zekrom almost seemed to smile as it lifted its head up. "Hearing your convictions, I know I really do need you as my hero. You will be, won't you?"

"Of course," Jessie said. "I never said I was going to leave you behind, just this stupid tree. You're still coming with us."

Zekrom nodded. Jessie closed her eyes as the munna replaced their illusions to avoid the disorienting sensation. When she opened them again and saw herself surrounded by forest, she looked directly at Zekrom. It wasn't even going to fight, was it? Jessie smiled, then threw out one of her plain pokeballs. Zekrom was brought inside. The pokeball fell to the ground motionlessly. Jessie went and picked it up. She turned back to Meowth and Wobbuffet. "Let's go," she said.

* * *

James sat in the infirmary, staring out the window. He felt like he'd been caught by the enemy or something. They treated him like a patient, not a prisoner, but even when he felt well enough to leave, they got in his way and wouldn't let him.

Maybe Drayden had something to do with it. When Drayden had seen James in the tower, he'd scowled, James recalled, but hadn't said anything. Still, the mayor must have been frustrated, having gone to some trouble to get Team Rocket members out of Unova.

Now James was still in Unova, though a hospital. He'd try to sneak out, get his pokemon from the pokemon center, and then figure out what else he was going to do. When he didn't hear anyone else in the hall, James walked out quietly, scooting past any doors where he heard any conversation or other sound. When he got to the front, the receptionist wasn't there, so he just began walking out.

Then he stopped. Looking forward, James wasn't sure he could believe what he saw. "Jessie!" he shouted happily. As he ran ahead and found out it was her, James stopped, remembering what had happened the last time he and Jessie had been together.

"James, what are you doing out here?" Jessie asked. "Do you have your pokemon? Meowth went to check on them. But Drayden said you were in this hospital."

"He said that? But-" James began.

"Yeah, he kind of caught us on the way out of Entralink," Jessie said.

"Oh," James said. So Jessie had failed too. It really shouldn't surprise him anymore. He forced a smile, then looked away. "I'm sorry, Jessie," he said. "About before... I thought I'd be different with you, but I wasn't. But I really do love-"

"Stop it, James," Jessie said, looking away guiltily. He'd been saying that all along, that he loved her, hadn't he? But she hadn't listened. Well, now she'd change that. A closeness and love like his was part of her ideals. Jessie looked back at James, seeing his worried expression. "I'm sorry, too," she said to help alleviate it.

James's face twitched into a smile as he realized Jessie was no longer pushing him away. That was the important thing for him.

"So, where's your uniform?" Jessie asked. "You aren't quitting, are you?"

"No!" James insisted. "It just got ruined in that last fight with Reshiram."

"It happens. You'll just have to make another one, right?" Jessie said.

James nodded happily, feeling further relief that Jessie was inviting him back into her life again by saying this. "Reshiram is already captured... I don't know by who. So we'll just try to capture Zekrom, right?"

"No," Jessie said, then smirked. "Someone's already caught that pokemon, too," she said.

James was confused at how content Jessie seemed as she said this. There was some kind of satisfaction in her voice. "Jessie, you didn't-"

"I did," Jessie said, bringing out a pokeball. She threw it up, not caring who saw. Zekrom appeared in the sky. It looked at her. "Just showing you off to my partner," Jessie said with a shrug. As Zekrom nodded, she returned it to the pokeball.

James's face lit up as he saw the whole thing. "You're amazing, Jessie!" he exclaimed.

"Right. Zekrom's just the beginning. We're only going to go up from here, aren't we, James?"

"Yes," James said.

Jessie had actually been nervous that James wouldn't accept her back after all she'd said. In her relief, she reached out to hug him. As she did, James twitched and backed away. Then he looked at her with a sheepish smile.

So he didn't forgive her completely, Jessie realized. It had just been so natural to touch him casually like this before. But she'd damaged their bond, so now James was uncomfortable with it. It seemed he wanted to forgive her, but the effects of what she'd said still remained. Oh well, Jessie thought to herself. She'd just have to accept that. She'd treat him in a way as to earn his forgiveness. Since he wanted to forgive her he eventually would, even if it might take a while. She had faith in that. Their relationship hadn't been completely shattered with just one argument, only a little wounded.

For now, Jessie reached over to hug James again, and he accepted it this time, hugging her back. Already, things were starting to heal. It would continue to as their situation in general improved, Jessie thought to herself. She was chosen by the pokemon of ideals as its 'hero', so there was no way she wouldn't meet all of her ideals. With James still as her rocket partner, it was going to be fun.


End file.
